The prophecy of the four
by Poly-chan
Summary: As the people of the Enchanted Forest are back to their original home, facts bring up an old prophecy. Is it true? How would it affect the lives of Belle and Neal, Snow and Aurora, Emma and Henry? Swanfire, Rumbelle, mentions to Snowing and Philora.
1. The prophecy

_So, no new episodes of Once and my mind kind of wanders. I got this crazy little idea and decided to give it a try. Tell me what you think._**  
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"Hey, did you hear Snow's announcement at all? I didn't see you at dinner tonight." Belle asked as she saw Neal entering the common room that was located between their two separate rooms on Snow and Charming's Castle.

"I was helping the dwarfs with the fortification, we are almost finished with the north wall." Neal answered, taking off his cape. "I snatched some bread from the kitchen. What was the announcement about?"

"They are expecting a baby." Belle said, a little smile on her face.

Neal froze on place. Back in Neverland, Snow had said she wanted another child. But that was before body swappings and Pan's curse. He wondered how Emma would fell about that, how she would feel if she was there.

He tried to smile, for Belle's sake.

"Wow, that is great. I will congratulate them later."

"Neal, you don't need to pretend to be happy. The whole situation is awkward, but it is not like they planned it like this. They are not trying to replace Emma, you know?"

"No, of course not." he said, sitting by her side on the couch. Their relationship had grown close on the last months in a surprisingly natural way. They took care of each other, and they were there for each other in the hardest moments. And, even if Belle was technically younger than Neal, he discovered she had all the authority to act like a real stepmother to him sometimes.

He looked at her, finally smiling.

"That makes two of you, huh? That is good, my little brother or sister will have someone to play with." Belle's pregnancy was a surprise to her, and just another moment were Neal had been there for her. It was still a touchy subject and they hadn't told anyone else yet, but Neal was trying to bright her mood about that.

"Actually, three." Belle said, remembering Aurora, her expanded belly showing everybody what Snow's and Belle's weren't showing yet. "Oh my, the three of us!"

"You can open a mother-to-be club. Knit socks and things like that." Neal said, not looking at her, so he didn't see the wonder and surprise on her expression.

"Is there anyone else who announced a pregnancy?"

"Not that I am aware of, unless Regina is hiding the game. She does have been spending a lot of time with Hood." Neal said, finally looking at his stepmother. "What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know, I remembered something, but it may be just a coincidence."

"Belle, you knew my father pretty well to learn that what he said is true. There is no such thing as coincidences. What are you thinking about?"

"There was this prophecy... but it talked about four kids, not three."

"Which prophecy?"

To Neal's surprise, Belle looked down, sheepishly.

"While I was living with your father on the Dark Castle, I overheard some things... talks he had, with others and with himself."

Neal nodded, an expression on his face that translated, he hoped, as `I am not judging you`.

"I saw him having this kind of premonition twice, but I don't think he knew about that. His body would go still and he would whisper weird words, that gave me the chills. That's why I remember clearly about this one, the one about four kids."

"How did it go?"

"It talked about four kids, born from four different mothers but around the same time. They would be born during hard times and once united, they would help to open the path to a new, more peaceful era."

"Four kids. Is there anything else you remember?"

"I am not sure I remember the whole thing. But there was a little piece that didn't make sense until now." Belle said, realization filling her face. "They would be the sons of hope and the daughters of light and darkness."

Neal stared at her, his forehead wrinkled in thinking. But Belle had been thinking about that for way longer than he had.

"Aurora and Snow would be the hope. Aurora, that was left on this bare land but found her way back to her Prince that, she thought, was lost forever. And Snow, that almost didn't come home with David because of the dreamshade. After everything they went through, they still have the hope of a better future."

Neal nodded, thinking that made sense.

"Then we have left..."

"The daughters of light and darkness." Belle said, lightly touching her belly. "This one is, for sure, the daughter of darkness."

"But who would be the daughter of light?"

Belle looked up at him, and Neal couldn't understand the stare that carried something close to compassion, directed to him.

"I have a guess, but you need to tell me if it is possible."

Neal felt his stomach drop. What now?

"Do you remember how the first curse was crafted, Neal?" she asked, reaching his hand to touch it. "It was planned by the Dark One, who knew the Savior would break it. But he didn't know what would lead the Savior to break it."

"It was Henry." Neal said in a whisper, the aching on his chest growing as he remembered his son.

"Yes, Henry. The product of the union between the Savior and the Son of the Dark One. Light and Dark."

"Would Henry be the fourth kid?"

"No." Belle said, pressing his hand in hers. "Henry already has his own destiny as the True Believer. I am talking about another kid, that would be born in the next year. Another kid from the Savior."

Neal finally understood were Belle was going with her thinking. She was showing a knowledge about magic that impressed him, and he was afraid she was right.

"I am sorry to ask this, Baelfire." she said, so caught up in the moment that she ended up calling him by the name she originally knew him by. "Do you know if that would be possible? If Emma... saw someone on the last months before we parted ways?"

Neal dropped his head, letting go of Belle's hand to sustain his head. She put a hand on his back instead, seeing the pain on his expressions.

"Was it Hook? I didn't..."

"No, it is not that!" Neal interrupted her, not wanting to have any mental images. "Emma was not with anyone like this, not since Pan got Henry."

"Then I may be mista..."

"It was before." Neal said, his head still down. "It was before all this Neverland crap, when we were still in Storybrooke, when Greg and Tamara were still around."

Belle waited. She felt like there were old unsolved issues on that, and, if Neal didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't push him to. Even if she really wanted to know if her theory was right. But he kept talking.

"It was one night, and it was wrong, since technically I was still with Tamara, even if she was fooling me. Man, an honorable person wouldn't do that, and I know it. I had this little fight with Tamara because I was beginning to buy what Emma was feeding me, so she got angry with me and threatened to leave, and I was miserable, and Emma showed up wanting to talk about the past..."

His words came out in a rush, and Belle began to make small circles on his back with her hand. He was trying to justify himself.

"It was hard to deal with my dad, or the fact I had a kid I didn't know until then, or that Emma was back and I still loved her, it was all too much. So I asked her... I asked her if we could forget everything for a little while, and just... just be ourselves, you know? No Savior or Son of the Dark One, just Neal and Emma, the two idiots that stole cars and had fun with each other."

"We did that, we shared old stories and a bottle of Jack, and we laughed until our bellies hurt, and we teased each other. I just wanted to be silly with her again, be young, with not a fuck in the world. But at some point things went farther, and none of us tried to stop it. But we did try to forget on the next day. We never discussed it since then."

He was silent now and Belle was still trying to soothe him. For a moment she forgot about her theory or anything else, focusing on the man that looked, more than ever, like a lost boy.

"I am not judging you, and I think you shouldn't either. I think you knew, deep in your heart, that Tamara meant nothing."

"I felt so bad afterwards. I cheated on my fiancee."

"Things happen for a reason." Belle said.

"Yeah, and this makes me angry, you know? It looks like all the moves in my life are planned and I am nothing but a pawn. A pawn to whom happiness is not allowed."

"That is not true, sweetheart." Belle said in a soft voice. "Maybe there are prophecies and predetermined destiny, but the way you lead your life, the way you take things, that is something you choose. If my theory is right and the fourth kid is yours and Emma's, then that night should have happened. But the way it happened was your choice. Even if you tell me about it in a low voice with a bowed head, I can see the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about Emma. That night the two of you were one again, were happy and were complete. There is no reason not to believe that will not happen again."

Neal sighed, and his shoulder dropped, like until that moment there was a heavy weigh over them. He tilted his head, laying it on Belle's shoulder, and whispering "Thank you."

She caressed his head, and whispered back "You're welcome."

They stayed for some time like that, both thinking about past and future and what would happen. Neal finally spoke, in a rushed tone.

"Do you really think Emma is pregnant again?"

Belle sighed.

"There is no way to know for sure, Neal. Maybe we should talk to someone that knows more about prophecies than us. Maybe we should tell Regina."

He raised his head.

"No. She may have changed, but I don't totally trust her." He suddenly knew what he needed to do. "I need to find them. I need to find Emma and Henry, and make sure that she is not going through all of it alone again. There is only one thing..."

"What is it?" she asked, as he kept staring at her.

"I don't want to leave _you _alone."

She smiled to him.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Besides, I have Snow and Charming, Aurora and Phillip and all the others. I will be fine. You should go find your family."

Neal took some seconds to voice what was on his head.

"What if... I can't come back? What if I can't make Emma and Henry remember everything?"

"Then you are going to be happy, Neal. You deserve it, and I know you can find happiness with them."

Neal smiled to her. Belle was turning out to be more his mother than he could remember of his real one ever being.

"Things will work out." he said, finally putting a hand on top of hers, that was resting on her flat stomach. "And I will see you again, and meet my sister."

"Yes, you will."

Words that they both had proffered to loved ones, now were proffered to each other.


	2. How?

_Thank you so much for the response! It is great to know I have people on board with me. :D  
I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, I rewrote it at least three times. A friend helped me to sort things out tough, so thank you Eduardo!  
Oh, and a warning - I rated it T for language.  
That said, I hope you enjoy the chapter._

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_**Chapter 2 - How?**_

Emma woke up to puke. Again. As she flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth, she told herself she needed to go to the doctor. She had been postponing that for some time now, because she had a little guess she knew what was going on, but it couldn't be possible.

"Mom? Did you see my sneakers?" Henry entered her bathroom, his hair mussy from sleep.

"Did you try under the bed, by the front door and on the balcony?"

"The balcony!" the boy whispered, turning around. Emma smiled. He would leave his stuff on the most unpredictable places.

As she changed clothes she thought again about her symptoms. It could be a stomach bug, right? And her late period could be just... stress.

There was no way in hell that she could be pregnant.

Or that's what she thought, because on the next day she was bracing the toilet again, with amazing punctuality. It was what, the fifth day in a row?

She remembered being pregnant with Henry. The situation was different, but the symptoms were the same - nausea early in the morning and again by the end of the afternoon, an annoying headache, and she couldn't even get close to vanilla. They used it in on Thursdays at jail, she remembered well, the sweet smell of it filling the cafeteria and making her sick.

"What are you looking for?" Henry asked, seeing her opening and closing kitchen cabinets.

"Do we have any vanilla extract?"

Henry wrinkled his nose.

"I don't think so."

She was thinking about buying some as a test when the thought of how ridiculous that was hit her. She should just buy a pregnancy test instead.

"Are you ok, Mom?"

"Yeah, I am alright. Do you want some toasts with your eggs?"

"Sure."

Henry was growing fast, and he never denied food. She tried to concentrate on the task of cooking breakfast for the boy, but her mind once more worried. What if she was really pregnant? How was she going to balance a teenager boy and a brand new baby, all by herself?

It had been so hard in the begin. When she left jail all she had was a yellow bug and a tiny, pink faced baby. For some months she wrapped Henry on her old baby blanket – what made people on stores or in the street think he was a girl.

It took her a long time to hold him with confidence, to know exactly why he was crying by the pitch of the whining, and to convince herself that yes, she could be a mom; and no, she was not ruining his life by keeping him.

She had the help of strangers and after some years she had a rented apartment, a job, and money enough to pay for daycare. Out of all that mess Henry had always been with her and that, she thought, was the most important part.

But getting pregnant again? Was she crazy?

The worst part was she couldn't remembered how it had happened. She hadn't been seeing anyone, Henry's father was the last serious relationship she had, more than eleven years ago, and after everything that happened then, she was not interested in getting involved with another person.

There was a party, maybe. Was it when Henry had a camping trip? She remembered sweet, warm lips on hers and the taste of something alcoholic. She remembered a feeling like... home.

"Are you sure you are ok, Mom?" Henry asked as she sat in front of him on the table.

"I will be if you do good in your Math test today." she answered, focusing her attention back on the present. She would deal with the possibility of a baby on her womb later.

**~X~**

Emma denied the idea for one more week, but after she almost fainted at work, scaring her coworkers, she decided she needed to do something.

"You don't look ok, Swan." said her superior, a police officer in his fifties. "It is mid-afternoon, why don't you go home and rest a little?" she preferred to stay and keep her mind busy, but by the way he was looking at her, that was not an option.

She had been transferred to that unity some months ago, but she already liked Sullivan, her superior. He kept everyone in line, but he was also ready to listen to his workers and offer some understanding when needed. He also had a pre-teen boy and they would talk about the little bumps of being a parent to this complicated age.

She had to leave the station. As she got to the street she felt courageous and decided it was time to buy a pregnancy test.

She arrived home half and hour later. Henry was not home yet, he had a rehearsal at drama club and wouldn't be home until the end of the afternoon.

After she took the first test an decided it was wrong, she went back to the drugstore to buy another one. She bought six more and all of them came positive.

She sat on the bathroom floor and the tears finally found their way out. How was it possible? There was a reason she promised herself never to trust a man again. There was a reason she kept her distance of people. Henry was the only person in the world that mattered, and now...

How?

She didn't notice the time passing by and just realized how late it was when she heard the shut of the front door.

"Mom?" she heard Henry calling, probably after seeing her shoes and coat by the door. She stood up, dried her tears, and combed her hair with her fingers. She was not going to let him find her on that mess.

"Hey, baby. Is it six already?"

Henry accepted the hug, but as soon as it ended, he looked at his mom with concern.

"What is wrong?"

She tried not to tear up again.

"Nothing is wrong. I was a little tired, came home earlier so I could take a nap before preparing dinner."

"Mom..." Henry, said, not believing her.

"Ok, I kind of had a bad day at work. But it is fine, I am better now." she said, deciding to prepare dinner just to occupy herself with something. "How was school?"

"It was ok." Henry said, dropping his backpack and looking at her, not totally convinced, but letting the subject be dropped for the time being. "You know the girl I told you about, Andrea? She helped me out with my lines for the play. She is really cool."

"Is she?" Emma asked, wondering if she was about to witness her son's first crush. "Did you memorize all your lines already?"

"Yes. But I think I will have a problem with the sword fight."

"And why is that?"

"As I was training the moves with Andy today, he hit me in the wrist a bunch of times. He can't do it right, and he always end up hitting me."

"Did any of you get hurt?" she asked, stopping chopping a lettuce to look at him.

"My wrist is a little swollen, but I think it is fine." the boy said, pulling up his sleeve to show an ugly bruise on his right wrist.

"Oh, Henry!" she approached him "That is probably going to turn into ten different shades of green, maybe yellow."

"It is a war scar." he said, what made her laugh.

"We should put some ice on it, my warrior. I will get the ice pack." she started to wash her hands to go after it, but Henry was faster.

"It is ok, I will get it." he said, already leaving the room. "It is on the first aid kit, right?"

"Yes." she answered, resuming her chopping, just to freeze the knife in the air some seconds later.

The first aid kit was on her bathroom. And her bathroom also happened to have half a dozen of pregnancy tests, spread everywhere.

Maybe Henry wouldn't see them... Yeah, right! She told herself bitterly. He was going to see and figure it out soon enough.

"Mom?" _really_ soon enough.

He came back, a confused expression and no ice pack in hands.

"Why... why are there so many pregnancy tests in your bathroom?"

She breathed in. She would need to tell him eventually. Better sooner than later.

"Baby, come here."

He obeyed, shock still written on his face.

"I have been feeling weird on the last days."

"You have _been _weird on the last days." the boy added.

"Well, now I know why." she said simply, trying to sound calm, not freaked out.

"So you are... pregnant."

"It looks like I am. I am so sorry Henry, I never planned on any of this happening."

"You are going to have a baby..." the boy repeated, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Then something occurred to him.

"Who is the father?" he asked, sounding so much older than he actually was "Is the baby going to have one?"

The question broke Emma's heart. He was basically stating – I don't have a father, does my brother or sister has the privilege of having one?

She didn't even know who was the father so she was pretty sure she had the answer.

"It is going to be just the three of us." she said, sadness dripping from her voice. Henry deserved so much more, so much she couldn't give him.

She sat heavily on a stool and sighed. Suddenly she was embraced by Henry's arms, that snapped out of his surprised state by seeing how sad his mom looked.

"It is ok. This baby is going to have an awesome Mom and an amazing and really charming big brother."

Emma laughed, holding him against her chest. Well, he was right. Henry was an amazing boy.

"I am going to have a little brother or sister." he whispered after they parted.

"Do you like the idea?" she asked, a little afraid.

But Henry's smile covered his whole face.

"I always wanted a younger sibling!"

Emma was surprised by that.

"You never told me that."

Henry didn't have the courage to tell her the reason. He always thought they were half a family – like something or someone really important was missing. When he was young, his mom told him that his dad was a fireman and died trying to save a family, so he never really missed him... it is impossible to miss someone you never met. But still, sometimes when he saw big, noisy families in malls or grocery stores, he wondered how it was possible to miss something he never had.

"It was my secret wish." he finally said, happy to see that she was satisfied by the answer, as she went back to cooking.

"Then you have a really powerful mind, Henry. I wonder what other wishes you have in store."

Henry didn't say it, because it was silly. But his biggest wish was to have a real, big, messy family, just like his friends at school had.

Well, he could give it a try, he thought. You never now.

While his mom was concentrated on cooking, her back to him, he closed his eyes and wished with all his might for a family. A big and loving family for him and his future brother or sister.


	3. Nightmares

_I had this chapter ready for some days, but kind of had some busy days and didn't find the time to update. Sorry for the waiting.  
It was supposed to be a whole chapter from Neal's POV but well... my fingers wrote by themselves and here we are.  
Thank you for the support. I am always happy to read your opinion. :D_

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_**Chapter 3 - Nightmares**_

As Neal approached the castle's gate, he was satisfied to see that the repairs were almost done. They had been working on that for the past month, and had a great reason on doing so. It was not just the ogres they should fear anymore.

"May someone open the gate?" he yelled, hoping there was someone responsible for it.

It looked like there was, since it didn't take a whole minute before the gate was lifted and Neal rushed his horse forward.

"Hey there! A beautiful day, isn't it?"

Neal smiled to Happy, the guard of choice.

"It is, indeed. Were is everyone?"

"Most of them are in the castle, It looks like there was an emergency meeting." the dwarf said, his happy demeanor dropping a little.

"I see. Thank you, Happy."

Neal rode the horse to the stables. He had been out for two weeks, trying to discover more about some rumors he had been hearing from the villagers – some of them had been living in the Enchanted Forest all along, surviving the curse, the ogres and the desolation. He knew he would need to report to Snow and David his findings, but he just hoped he didn't need to report his motifs as well. He was not ready to tell Emma's parents that he might had knocked her up – before she was left by herself and with no memory.

It looked like whichever meeting had been happening, just ended, since a lot of people were coming downstairs as he went up.

He entered the big meeting room with the rounded table and there were still some people lingering around. David was talking to Robin Hood and some of his merryman, and Snow was by his side, but it didn't look like she was paying attention to what was being said. Her eyes were on the opposite window, but she probably heard Neal coming, because she looked in his direction and smiled.

"I am glad you are back." she said, offering him a hug. "Did you make a safe trip?"

"Yes, I did. I have some news."

That caught her attention, as long as David's, that quickly shook Neal's hand and tapped his back.

"I saw a path of destruction a hundred miles from here, almost by the borders of the old dark forest."

"Destruction made by ogres?" Snow asked.

"No, it was something bigger and messier."

"What could be bigger and messier than ogres?" Robin asked with curiosity.

"I don't know, it looked like a tornado passed by there. Some of the trees were thrown around, roots and all."

He saw the quick look that David and Snow exchanged and Neal asked himself what exactly was the emergency meeting about.

"You probably heard the rumors about the witch." Snow stated and Neal nodded. That was the reason that made him leave to investigate in the first place. "They are not rumors anymore. She has been seen."

"What does she want here?" Neal asked, knowing she must had traveled between words to get to the Enchanted Forest. Those were bad news, that woman was never up to something good, but it also brought him some hope. If the Wicked Witch could travel between worlds, so could he.

"We don't know yet. We think she might have business with Regina."

Neal noticed, when Snow mentioned her, that Regina was not there.

"It looks like she had business with Cora." Robin clarified it to him. "We are going back to Regina's old castle to see if we can discover something and get some more weapons. I should check if Regina is ready to leave."

He made a little measure for Snow and David, than shook Neal's hand.

"It was good to see you, man."

And off he went, his men following him.

"What is going to happen if a fight breaks?" Neal asked, worried. He really needed to go back to Emma, but how was he going to leave them behind to a fight?

"We will fight back to defend our people." David guaranteed. "But I would be more worried about a battle involving magic than a physical one.

"We will keep you posted about the whereabouts of it." Snow said. She looked tired. "We are happy you are here to help."

"Actually..." he said, before he could stop himself. He couldn't tell the whole story to them yet, but he couldn't just leave and not tell anyone about it either. "One of the reasons why I took this trip was to find a way to travel between worlds."

Snow and David once more shared a look. They looked sad, but not surprised.

"It didn't take long." David said, putting a hand around Snow. "Are you going after Emma and Henry?"

"As soon as I find a way to leave, Sir." Neal said, suddenly self conscious about the man in front of him being his father-in-law. Oh, and also the king.

"I wish you the best of luck." Snow said softly. "I know you will be able to find them."

"Thank you." He said, and he was about to leave when he remembered something. "If I am successful in leaving, can you promise me something?"

"What is it, Neal?" Snow asked, noticing his wrinkled forehead and worried eyes.

"Can you take care of Belle for me?"

"Don't worry about it at all." David said, smiling. "She will be safe with us."

"Thank you. She is the only family I have besides Emma now, and it really worries me the fact that I can't take care of both of them right now."

"We are all family." Snow guaranteed "And we will take care of each other."

It was hard for Neal to sleep that night. When he did so, it was just to have nightmares. Nightmares were he fell through an infinite portal, or where he found Emma and Henry, but they couldn't see him or feel his touch or hear his voice.

There was no way he could know it, but as he was having nightmares with Emma, in another world Emma was having nightmares with him.

"No! I love you! I need you!"

She woke up with a startle, breathing heavily. She could still see the bright green light, feel the cold wood floor. Neal was gone.

She looked around confused. She was at her apartment in New York. It was just a dream, Neal wasn't there – he had never been.

She decided to get up and have a glass of water. Her hands were shaking.

She stopped by Henry's room, but the boy slept peacefully. She walked to the kitchen, her bare feet feeling good against the cold floor.

That was a really weird dream, but it also felt so real! She could still feel Neal's hand between hers.

She had been thinking a lot about him lately. She was sure it was because of the pregnancy, he was the last man she remembered being with. But at the same time... sometimes she felt like it wasn't that long since she last saw him.

She closed her eyes, trying to shake the thought. Eleven years was a time long enough. She should stop thinking about him, no good would come of it. He was not coming back.

Next day at work she decided to do one thing she never did before – she would do it once, then she could be done and forget everything about her once lover.

It was a slow day at the police station, and as some of her colleagues talked and drank coffee, she sat by her computer and logged in the criminal records system. She put her range on national criminals, then typed Neal Cassidy.

She found nothing.

She tried searching for some states – states where they had been together, or where they talked about going. Besides the case of the watches in Oregon, she found nothing. She smiled. Neal was smarter than that.

She remembered some of the fake names they used and started typing them. It was not until she reached Charlie Scott that she found something.

She was surprised to see a complaint under the state of New York reports. Well, it could always be another Charlies Scott, that was not an unusual name, one of the reasons why he used it.

But as she read the complaint she realized it was his style. Small stealing from a convenience store, he almost fooled the owner but at the last minute other worker came from the bathrooms and stopped him. He was took by the police, spent one night in jail.

That was three years prior.

She rolled down the report, wanting to see the official picture... and the air was suddenly knocked out of her lungs.

There was Neal as she remembered. There were new elements - some white hair around his temples, the begin of wrinkles around his eyes - but it was still Neal.

"Are you ok, Emma?" one of her coworkers was making her way to Emma, noticing her pale face and her surprised expression.

"Yeah." she said, quickly closing the file. "I may need some air though."

She passed by the woman, leaving the police station and sitting by the stairs. Neal was in New York? Well, maybe he was not there anymore, but he had been. They lived in the same city. For how long, who would know.

She felt her head aching. She could remember his voice, his cocky smile, his soft hands on her shoulders. _We are almost home. _She believed him. She thought they could have a home together.

"I have a son..."

"Emma, Henry needs you..."

"I love you. I probably always will..."

Emma braced her head. What was happening? What were all those mental images? She hadn't seen Neal since she went to jail, all those words were imposible, he didn't know he had a son.

Unless...

Did she met him? Did they talk? Was it that day she couldn't figure out, the day Henry went to a camping trip and she got drunk? She couldn't remember, everything was a mess in her head. She tried to focus in one thought, but it was impossible, it was like she was watching a movie by hitting the forward button. Her brain was probably going to make her head split in two at any moment.

It was then that she lost her conscious.


	4. Do I know you?

_It looks like I just have time to write on weekends so the chapters may be posted on a weekly basis, unless I have extra time during the week._

_I was thinking if Emma would really remember things or not and I decided that she wouldn't, at least for now. The fact that she is pregnant, not knowing how, made a little crack on the wall protecting her real memories, but I don't think Regina's magic would be undone just like that. That's my reasoning. Let's see what my mind comes up with from now on. :D_

_So this chapter has a scene I was really excited to write. I hope it ended as good as I thought it could be.  
Thank you for the support, and keep me telling your opinion, and what you hope to see in this story. :)  
_

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_**Chapter 4 - Do I know you?**_

"_Em? Come on babe, wake up!"_

Emma slowly opened her eyes.

"Maybe we should take her home."

"I think she is waking up."

Emma looked around. She was still at the police station, surrounded by people. But she could swear she heard... She tried to move her head up, to look behind her, but it hurt.

"Take it easy there, Swan. I think you hit your head." said Williams, their coroner. The coroner was telling her to take it easy, that was probably a bad thing at some level.

"How are you feeling?" she saw Sullivan right behind Williams.

"Like I've been on a fight."

"Not that exciting, I think you just fainted."

"What were you doing on the frontal steps, Swan?" Sullivan asked. Emma remembered her headache, her confusing thoughts but that was all. Out of a sudden she was just swallowed by darkness.

"I needed air." she said simply, closing her eyes for some moments and trying to remember the voice... the voice she heard before gaining conscious.

"Is she ok, Williams?" - asked Sullivan, looking at the shorter man.

"Yes, she just needs some rest. We should keep an eye on her though." he answered, turning to her. "You should stay here for some hours, just in case. If you are fine by then, one of us can take you home."

Emma suddenly panicked.

"What time is it? I need to pick Henry up at school!"

"It is four. Mueller is doing that right now, she will probably be back at any minute."

Emma finally relaxed.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Williams, can you give me some time alone with Ms. Swan?" Sullivan said, and the coroner agreed, leaving the room.

Sullivan sat by the coffee table in front of the couch were Emma was lying down. The recreation room was empty, what was something unusual.

"Emma, help me out here." he said in a soft voice, quickly changing the switch, from her superior to a friend. "What is happening?"

She thought about saying that she didn't know. She thought about saying it was nothing. But that was her superior and sooner or later she would need to break the news.

"Sir... I kind of have some news."

"Ok." the older man said, carefully "Am I going to be happy?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"Just tell me already then."

"I am pregnant." she said, eyes down, like she was ashamed of that.

But Sullivan's voice made her look up.

"That is great news, Emma." if he was surprised, he didn't show up. He was smiling at her, and she remembered how he once told her about finding out his wife was pregnant with their third child, the one they called their little accident.

"Sir..."

"A kid is always a blessing." he said simply, and she didn't know what to answer to that.

Before any of them could say something else, Henry entered the room running.

"Mom? Are you ok? They said you fainted! Is the baby ok?" he was out of breath, and still couldn't stop making questions.

Emma made an effort and sat down so she could hug him.

"I am fine, baby. Everything is fine."

Sullivan smiled, high fiving Henry as a greeting. Then he left the room.

"What happened?" the boy wanted to know.

"Maybe your brother or sister just wanted me to take a nap." she said, smiling. "Is it ok with you if we go home later? The guys want to make sure I am ok."

"Sure."

She messed his hair affectionately. Usually she would complain when people were overprotective with her, even more her coworkers. But that time she was going to be a good girl and give in. The thought of fainting at home and scaring the hell out of Henry made her think that she should listen to Williams.

"I want you to do something for me then. Can you get my laptop and my phone? I need to schedule a doctor's appointment."

"Why?" Henry asked, worried.

"There is nothing wrong, kid. It is just that, when you are going to have a baby, you need to go to the doctor, so he can check if everything is alright and he can prescribe you some vitamins the baby will need." she said, realizing that, by explaining the process to Henry she was getting more comfortable with the idea.

"Oh. And can we know if it is going to be a boy or a girl?"

"I think it is still too early for that. Do you have a preference?"

"Not really. Do you?"

Emma had caught herself, some days before, watching beautiful, colorful little dresses by the window of a shop. She would be glad to have a girl. But she would also be ok with a boy. A little boy just like Henry, so she could call them her boys.

"I think I don't have a preference either."

"What if you have twins? Or triplets?" Henry asked, excited.

"Why would you mention something like that?" she said, a comic horrified expression on her face. "If that happens, I am going to put all of them to sleep in your room!"

That made the boy laugh. She recognized his "I am joking" laugh, so she laughed with him.

As Henry sat down to do homework and Emma finished scheduling her doctor's appointment, her thoughts went back to the one thing her mind had been obsessing over.

She was so sure she heard a soft voice calling her `Em`, right before she woke up. Neal was the only one to ever call her that. Was she dreaming? It was impossible that Williams or Sullivan said those words.

She remembered checking his file earlier. There was a little piece of information still flashing in her memory.

153 Broadway.

She wondered if he still lived in the same place that the file mentioned.

**~X~**

She fought, oh, she fought so hard. She told herself she didn't want to ever see Neal again. She reasoned that two years was a long time for him to stay in the same place. She even told herself she was going nuts and making up things.

But she couldn't suppress the nostalgic feeling she got when she passed by that block of Broadway Street – because she had things to do on that part of town! Sometimes she felt like she had been there before and when she was lying awake on her bed at night she would think, that's it, you met him again, went to his apartment, but got so drunk that can't remember a thing. But on the daylight she couldn't dare to think about that possibility. The daylight made everything real, and those were not realistic thoughts.

But she kept passing in front of his building.

Then, one of those days something different happened. She had had her doctor's appointment that morning, and she felt overwhelmed. She was fine, the baby was healthy, and she even got to hear the little one's heartbeat. As soon as the sound filled the room, she cried and as soon as she left the doctor, she wished she had someone to call and share the good news. Her coworkers were also always asking about it, mentioning that they had toys or clothes or even a crib that their kids outgrow, and that made her feel really good with the perspective of having another kid.

And maybe it was that good disposition that made her, for the first time, enter the number 153 of Broadway Street.

A gate and a intercom with a bunch of numbers. She got closer to the buzzer, taking a look at the names, already expecting to see one of Neal's fake names. She heard someone coming from the street, and got out of the way, moving sideways to keep reading the names by the numbers of apartments.

"Emma?"

She jumped, startled. Emma turned around, looking at the man that called her. There was something familiar about his face, but she couldn't point exactly what. Then man read her confused expression on the wrong way.

"I kind of expected more surprise, dearie. One scream, maybe a relieved smile, a surprised `You are alive!`"

"Do I know you?" that question made him stop. He watched her intently.

"You... You don't remember me?"

"I should?"

Gold was awestruck. Something had happened. First Storybrooke wasn't where it should be. Now Emma didn't remember him. Was his father's curse successful? It couldn't be, or Emma wouldn't be there. Regina knew what to do, maybe...

"Sir? Are you ok?" Emma asked, noticing how pale he suddenly turned.

He nodded with his head, sitting on the bench by the gate. The same bench he sat with Henry when Emma went after Bae, he remembered.

"Is Henry with you?" he asked, worried.

"How do you know about Henry?" Emma asked, alarmed.

Gold tried to calmly ponder the answer. Emma had no memory of him, and probably no memory of anything related to Storybrooke. But apparently she had Henry, what meant she remembered Bae – as Neal, he reminded himself.

"I am Neal's father." he finally said, knowing that, if he wanted to know what happened, he would need to play the game according to the rules. "He told me about you. He has this old picture..."

"In the carnival." Emma said. It was the only picture they had together, she also had a copy.

"Yes, that's it."

"And he told you about Henry?" Emma asked, sounding doubtful.

Gold didn't know if 'yes' was the right answer, but he needed to somehow explain how he knew about the boy, so he nodded. That had an unexpected effect in Emma. She sat on the bench, elbows in her knees and head in her hands.

"Then it is true."

"What is true, dearie?"

"I did see him some months ago."

That was the only way of Neal knowing about Henry. If they had met and, after drinking, Emma told him.

"Do you remember that?"

"I don't! And that's the problem!"

He was going to ask her to explain it better, but she was faster.

"Where is he? Where is Neal?"

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "I made quite a long trip and when I came back, I didn't find him."

Emma remembered one or two things Neal had said about his father, and it wouldn't surprise her if he was hiding from the man.

"I am on his apartment now, I payed the last rents, so when he comes back I will know. The owner said he has been gone for some months now."

Emma nodded her head, in a trance. She wouldn't be able to talk to Neal then. She was relieved, but also a little disappointed.

"I'll give you my number." she finally said, taking a notepad from her pocket. "If he shows up, could you please give me a call?"

Gold agreed and took the note from her hands. He knew that wasn't enough. If his theory was right, the chances of his Bae just showing up there were thin.

"Do you think I could meet Henry?" he asked suddenly.

"I am sorry?"

"Henry, my grandson. You know, I am an old man and I don't have much of a family. I would like to meet the boy."

For some reason Emma felt compelled to trust him. She felt weird towards that man. Like she didn't totally like him, but totally trusted him.

"Yeah, I think I can arrange that. I am sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"You can call me Mr. Gold."


	5. Family Reunion

_Ok, so this chapter was a little puzzle for me to solve. I realized, by the reviews, that I should explain how Gold is where he is so I added the first scene - I hope my idea makes sense. I also thought it was around time to start the family reunions, so here we go. :D_

* * *

_**Chapter 5 - Family Reunion**_

There was pain, then there was darkness, then there was nothing.

When Rumplestiltskin awoke, he was pretty sure he was dead. He expected to be dead, that was the only way to save Belle, Bae and Henry – by taking his and his father's life.

He found out that he couldn't move and that the light was so bright that he could barely see. He stayed in the same position, lying down on his back, and wondered. If he was dead, why did his body hurt so much?

After some time of dozing off and waking up he stayed awake for long enough to realize a low buzz on the background. He concentrated on the noise... and it sounded like cars. He payed more attention. Cars and people and horns, the sounds of a big city.

He touched the ground under him and it felt cold and smooth. He touched his own chest. It was raising rhythmically, just like the beatings of his heart.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't dead.

Then where was him?

He tried to look around. A really bright light came from his right side. He slightly turned to the other side. His whole body protested and he braced his bad leg. The worst pain was coming from there. His eyesight was getting better now that he was not staring at the bright light and suddenly he recognized the small room, the light walls and the wooden floor.

He was at his son's apartment in New York.

He hold himself up in an elbow, trying to understand how he ended up there.

Then, as a reminder, pain shot through his right leg.

The spell... the spell he casted so long ago, as a precaution, and thought would never need to use. It was back at the Enchanted Forest, after loosing Bae. He decided that, if someday something happened and he was not the Dark One anymore, the only place in the world were he would like to be was with his son. So he casted this spell connecting Bae's life to his, making it possible that, if someday he was left with no magic, his body would be transported to where Bae should be.

That meant that the Dark One was dead. But not Rumpelstiltskin.

He managed to sit down. Why was he at this apartment in New York? It didn't look like Bae went back there, even the lamp that was knocked down in the confusion to leave for Storybrooke the day that he was poisoned by Hook was still down.

He was still confused as why he didn't die. He was brought there for a reason, but why? Where were Bae and Belle? And how was he going to find them?

**~X~**

As Emma was lying in bed she thought about what was going to happen on the next months. Her body had started to change already, and soon it would take so much more effort to do the day to day things. Her boss had guaranteed she would have her leave to have the baby, and she was thankful for the break, but she asked herself how she was going to cope in the first days. Henry would still be having classes, she would need to wake him up in the morning, cook for him and help with homework, all of that at the same time as taking care of a newborn baby. She wouldn't be able to walk him to the bus stop though, and she had the impression the kid was going to be really happy about that.

And then there was Mr. Gold, Neal's father. She asked herself were Neal got the last name `Cassidy` if it wasn't his father's. Was it his mother's? Emma never heard him say anything about her.

Mr. Gold looked genuinely interested in knowing Henry. But could she trust him? The past told her not to – both Mr. Gold and his son had a past of abandoning loved ones. Then why her guts were telling her to do so? She was usually so good at detecting lies, at reading people's expressions, that's what made her a good police officer. Gold should be lying to her, she reasoned, but he _wasn't. _He was an old, lonely man, and he _wanted_ to be close to family.

She sighed. She couldn't deny the man that. She couldn't deny Henry the chance of having another member of his little family around. That was going to raise questions – since the first time the boy asked about his father, Emma told him the story of the fireman that was a hero, dying by saving a family. She had the impression Gold wouldn't cooperate with the story if she asked him to.

Oh, well. Maybe it was going to turning into something good, She thought. She would arrange for them to meet and they would go from there. And if Gold ever did anything to harm Henry, she would kill him.

She rested her hand on her belly, that was hard to the touch and slightly bigger, like she had eaten too much for Thanksgiving dinner. Different from Henry that little one could still be protect from the whole world. She would keep it a secret from Gold, at least until she was a hundred percent sure she could trust him. After all, the baby was also his grandchild.

She closed her eyes. She was tired, but couldn't sleep.

_Just close your eyes. Come on, I can sing for you._

_I don't want you singing. Your voice is terrible._

_Hey, that is not nice! Come on, be a good girl and close your eyes. I got your back, Em. I will be here until you fall asleep._

The memory made her smile, but also made her remember the voice she heard right before waking at the police station, the voice that was still a mystery. She had accepted that she probably imagined it. She wouldn't say it aloud, but she wished she could hear him calling her _Em_ again.

Where was Neal, anyway? If they had really have sex, why didn't he look for her? If he knew about Henry, why didn't he ask to meet the boy? Was he as drunk as she, and didn't remember a thing? If that was the case, there was no way he could know it. She was the one carrying the irrefutable proof.

For the second time he had left without knowing she was pregnant.

**~X~**

Some days later Gold called her. He wanted to know when he could meet his grandson. Emma sighed. She needed to talk to Henry about it.

"Kid, I have something to tell you." she said as he grabbed his coat and backpack so she could walk him to the bus stop.

"It was not my fault!"

"What wasn't your fault?" she asked, watching him intently and the face he made was comical.

"I may have broken your red vase."

"Oh, really? I was wondering what happened to it." she said, locking the apartment's door and turning to look at her son. "I hope you took care of the broken pieces."

"I did. I am sorry."

She smiled. If all her problems were about broken vases life would be so uncomplicated.

"I appreciate that you told me. But it was not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it then?"

They left the building and she inhaled deeply.

"I've met someone recently... someone that wants to know you."

Henry looked curious now.

"Who is it?"

"Kid, just so you know, I didn't know about him."

"Who is it?"

"He wants to be part of your life and maybe we should be careful about it."

"Who is it, mom?"

They reached the bus stop and Emma stopped walking.

"Your grandfather."

Henry stared at her, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he managed to say something.

"I have a grandfather? Is it your father?"

"No, baby." Henry knew she was abandoned by the side of a road when she was a baby and she was never up to talk about it. "It is from your father's side of the family."

Emma could see he was going to ask more questions, but just at that moment they heard the school bus approaching. Perfect timing.

"He is going to have dinner with us tonight." she said, kissing his head. He was so shocked he didn't complain. "Have a good day at school!"

She watched him enter the bus with the same frozen expression on his face, and felt bad. His head was probably full on unanswered questions but she couldn't deal with them at the moment. She didn't know if she would ever feel ready to discuss about Neal with Henry.

**~X~**

She agreed on meeting with Gold after work so they could pick Henry up, stop by the grocery store then head home.

"So, were are you originally from?" Emma asked, thinking that small talk could help her to know the man better.

"Storybrooke, Maine." he said, not thinking about it.

"Storybrooke, huh? Never heard of it."

"It is a really small town. I think you would like it."

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"What makes you think _I _would like it?"

"Small community, everybody knows everybody, great place to raise kids."

"Sounds like a good place, but I am more like a big city kind of girl." she said, trying not to pay attention to the little tingle she felt when he said _great place to raise kids._

For her luck, they were approaching Henry's school. She crossed the line of cars on kiss and ride, going straight to the entrance of the school. Henry was there, sitting alone with a book.

"Hey, kid!" she called, and he raised his eyes. His hair was messy and he was wearing a black coat and a scarf, and maybe because of Mr. Gold's presence, that reminded her of Neal a lot.

The boy put his book on his backpack and walked to his mother. He looked expectantly to the man walking by her side.

"Henry, this is Mr. Gold. Gold, my son, Henry."

The boy raised his eyes to the man.

"Do I know you?" he asked, confused.

Gold smiled.

"Maybe you do." he said, an answer that Emma thought weird.

"Can you tell me stories about my father? About when he was my age?"

"Surely that I can, lad."

"We can talk as we walk." Emma said, thinking that she still needed to go to the grocery store. "Let's go?"

"Oh, Mom! My teacher wanted to talk to you!"

She looked at her son, intrigued.

"Why?"

"I may have got into trouble."

Emma sighed.

"Oh, Henry! We are going to talk later, do you hear me?"

She looked at Gold, still standing there. If it was anybody else she wouldn't trust to leave Henry but there was something about that man... and they were in school grounds, anyway.

"I'll be back soon. Don't leave this building, do you hear me?" She said, looking pointedly at Henry.

The two of them watched her go, then Gold turned to the boy.

"Henry, please tell me you remember everything."

Henry wrinkled his forehead.

"Everything what?"

"Storybrooke? Regina, your mother? The curse, Neverland, your grandparents, your father."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Henry said, a little afraid his grandfather was actually a lunatic.

Gold sat on the bench by the door, tired. What was he going to do? How was he going to find Bae and Belle when Emma and Henry had fake memories and he was powerless?

"Are you ok?" Henry asked, sitting by his side.

He didn't know what to answer. Truth be told, he wasn't ok.

"Are you really my grandfather?" the boy asked in awe.

To that he turned to face him.

"Yes, I am, Henry. I would do anything for you or your father. I just wish... I could have my family back."

"What happened to them?"

"You see, the last time I saw them I thought I was dying. When it turned out I didn't, I couldn't find them anymore. That is, until I found your mother."

Henry listened carefully. It was like a bed time story, but a story he heard before.

"Maybe you could stick around." Henry whispered. "Maybe it would make my Mom better."

Gold looked at him.

"Make your Mom better, what do you mean, boy? Is she sick?"

"No, but she had been really sad lately and I think it is because of my father, even if she says it isn't."

"She misses him. I miss him too, boy. But we are going to find him, you will see. Don't you know that the members of your family always find each other?"

Henry was looking at him with a confused expression. He said, in a whisper:

"My father is dead."

Gold needed to remind himself that the boy had no memory, that Bae _wasn't_ actually dead. He inhaled in.

"No, he isn't, Henry. I saw him a couple of months ago and he was fine."

"You saw... you saw my father?" Henry exclaimed. "Mom said that he was a fireman and he died when I was a baby!"

That made him remember the day that Henry first met Bae. The little boy saying – my father was a fireman, he died. Gold understood that probably, that was what the boy still believed.

"Henry..." Gold started, thinking about how he could start explaining it. But the boy was not listening to him. He stood up, looking pass him. Gold turned around and Emma was walking down the hall. Before she even got to them, Henry asked, in a loud tone.

"Is my father dead?"

Emma was startled, she looked up and Gold could see the pain in her eyes.

"Henry..."

"Is. my. Father. Dead?" the boy was yelling now, and Gold never saw him in so much rage.

Emma finally reached the place were they were.

"Baby, I am so sorry..."

She couldn't finish saying what she wanted cause Henry ran out the door. She sighed, looked at Gold with a defeated expression and ran after her son.


	6. It will be fine

_I am really sorry for the delay, got a couple of busy weeks. I will update another chapter soon to make up, maybe even tomorrow.  
So, I knew what I wanted to write but it was hard to write... I think it was hard to organize the thoughts in my head. I am not, in any way, trying to guess what is going to happen - this is an AU and I am just having fun. But I may have been influenced by the promo scene, the one where Emma sees the dreamcatcher. I am also trying to portrait how lost she would feel, with all this weird things Gold says, Henry angry with her, the new baby, and her uncertainty with the future. I hope I am doing alright._

* * *

_**Chapter 6 – It will be fine**_

Belle sighed. That meeting had lasted for hours and hours and she really wished they could call it a day.

"I am just saying we can't trust her."

"She is part of our family, Red. And if we can't trust family, there is no point on doing anything else." Snow White said, with a final tone on her voice.

They had been going around that subject for some time now. They had received a message from Regina, that went to her old castle to investigate. It looked like they discovered that was not the Wicked Witch's first appearance on the Enchanted Forest. She was somehow connected to Cora.

That didn't surprise anyone. Most of the problems that found their way to them were related to the Mills family. What worried them was the fact that Cora being dead, there was no way to be sure who was going to be the victim of the Witch's vengeance. Regina was the one they were betting on and, to some of them, they should just leave her to deal with whatever business her mom left unsolved by herself.

But Snow was against it, as most of the people present. Besides, some of the man, like Philip, Hook and Charming had gone with Robin and the Merrymen to help Regina. Snow and Aurora would have gone too, but both being pregnant there was not much they could say to convince the boys. Aurora looked about to give birth at any moment now, there was no way she was leaving the castle.

"I don't need to remember that we are here, protected, because of Regina's spell."

That was enough to convince everybody. Regina had cast a spell to protect Snow and Charming's castle with a magic barrier, pretty much like the one Emma once did on Gold's shop. But this one was way bigger and stronger, so no one could cross it against Regina's will, or even show up inside by magic means.

"Are we having dinner yet?"

The group turned around. Little Roland was by the door, rubbing his eye in a sleepy way. Belle stood up.

"Are you hungry, sweetie? Come on, I can take you to eat something." The little boy seemed to trust her. Since Robin left, with many hugs and promises of coming back soon, the boy had grew really found on Belle.

And she was relieved that she could leave the pointless meeting.

They were on the hallway, Roland's little hand tucked safely on Belle's and she heard the discussion restart.

"When do you think my Daddy is coming back?"

"Really soon, sweetie. One of this days you are going to wake up and he is going to be here."

"I miss him."

"I know you do." Belle said, pressing his hand in hers. She knew the feeling pretty well.

She missed Rumple and Bae really bad but she knew that, different from Roland, she couldn't feed her hopes of seeing them again. She needed to accept she was not going to happen, and she needed to be strong, because she was not totally alone. She had her unborn daughter to think about.

"Miss Belle? Can you tuck me in tonight? And sing?"

She looked at the little boy, his dark eyes full of hope. For some reason, she always wondered if that was how Bae looked like when he was little. She wondered where Bae was.

"I think I can arrange that, Roland."

That made the kid smile, and off they went to the kitchen.

**~X~**

Neal stared at the hourglass. He knew that was the answer. But he also knew that, if he got to use it, he would leave Belle and the others behind. To what, he didn't know.

The hourglass was found between his father's things. Apparently Rumpelstiltskin had that in case he could ever be able to travel between worlds. It would take him to the place his most beloved person would be – Bae. And now Neal was going to use it to get to Emma.

He asked himself if he looked more like his father than he first thought, and if that was something bad. Because at that moment, all that really mattered was getting to his family. And he could do anything to reach that goal.

**~X~**

Henry wasn't talking to her.

He would answer her questions with yes or no - Did you finish your homework? Did you have a good day? Do you want eggs with that? - But besides that, he was silent.

"_You lied to me, you lied during my whole life!" _he had yelled as soon as she reached him outside the school, shaking his arm to remove her touch.

Gold said he was sorry, that he didn't know he was supposed to keep quiet about that but Emma shook it off. She couldn't blame Gold for something she had provoked.

Henry wasn't talking to her, but he was all chatty with Gold.

The man didn't lost interest after the first dinner, like Emma feared. He didn't disappear on the next week, or the week after that. It became something normal for him to come over for lunch on Sunday, and Henry enjoyed it. That made Emma happy, but also made her heart smaller – Henry desperately needed more role models in his life, he needed a man to relate to. She just wished that man could be his dad.

That weekend Gold was taking Henry to the bookstore. The two of them seemed to get along pretty well, and the fact that Gold knew tons of stories about his father helped. She was still watching the man's movements, but up to that moment he had been kind to Henry, and never broke a promise – when he said he would be there, he was there.

Henry also kept the promise he made to her, not saying anything about the baby to his grandfather. But Emma knew she couldn't hide it forever.

"Henry, come on, you are going to be late for school!" She said, entering his room, wondering if that was going to be the day the kid would talk to her again.

**~X~**

"Where do you want me to go?" Emma asked, thinking she didn't understand what Gold had said.

"Neal's apartment. I have something to show you."

She had just finished her turn at the police station and was ready to go home and take a shower when Gold appeared out of thin air. She could swear that man had superpowers.

"Gold, I am tired, I really need to go home." she said, wrapping the coat around her body, self-conscious. She was showing already and yet, she didn't tell her father-in-law about it.

"It is going to be quick. It is not far anyway, and it will just take a couple of minutes."

She finally agreed, following him to the apartment she probably had been to, but didn't remember. It was not more than a five minute walk from her work.

He opened the door and she looked around, feeling the room. She was going to voice her thoughts when her eyes caught something.

Gold called her but Emma didn't hear, going straight to the dreamcatcher, still hanging from the window. Gold entered and closed the door, watching intently. That was exactly his intention by bringing her there. He needed answers, and maybe if he triggered her memory with familiar objects...

Emma touched the dreamcatcher, sighing. Gold looked at her. But after some seconds seconds she seemed to shake off whatever thoughts she was having.

"Do you remember the first time you did that, dearie?" He tried.

Emma slowly raised her eyes to him.

"In this same room, you did exactly that, and I asked you what was it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Then my son came running from that door the moment I yelled at you."

"Gold..."

"It was the day he discovered he had a son." he finished, in a weak voice. He had been trying so hard. On the last months he did everything that he thought would make Bae and Belle proud of him. With no help of magic he earned money – in games, it was true, but still earned – found Emma and Henry and now was working to make them remember. He had been trying really hard, but sometimes it was so frustrating.

Emma stared at him. She didn't remember the scene he was describing, or did remember, but a little differently. Now that he mentioned it... there was a memory and it kind of seemed fuzzed in her head. She tried to focus on it, but it was like catching a glimpse of a hummingbird, in a blink of an eye it was gone.

"I don't know what you are referring to." she said, putting the dreamcatcher back in place.

Gold dropped his head. He had such high hopes!

Emma felt nauseous and thought, Oh, no! There was another reason why she should have gone straight home. Rushing to the bathroom, she asked herself when that was going to end. Hopefully, as soon as she hit the mark of six months, just like how it happened with Henry.

"Emma, are you alright?" she heard Mr. Gold calling after her.

She reached the toilet but now that she was there she didn't feel like throwing up, what was good. She locked the bathroom door and sat on the edge of the bathtub, breathing slowly.

That apartment was messing up her feelings. She thought about Neal, about the last time she saw him, or at least the last time she saw him and could remember clearly. It was not enough that he had disappeared from Earth, leaving her, Henry and that baby behind. His father believed he was coming back, but Emma was not so sure herself. He had a reason to leave, hadn't he? Wasn't there a woman in the story? Emma was confused, and the fact that that apartment looked like Neal, and smelled like Neal wasn't helping.

She felt lightheaded.

"Oh, come on. Help me out here, kid." she whispered, rubbing her belly.

"Emma..? What is the matter?" Gold's voice came from the other side of the door.

"I think I got the flu or something." She said through the bathroom door. "I will be fine."

_I will be fine_, she repeated to herself under her breath.


	7. She is pregnant

_Like promised, here goes another chapter. :)  
It is shorter than what I usually write, but I had a spot too good to end it - I am sorry but I am not sorry.  
We are one week away from a new episode, what makes me excited. Writing this story has helped with the waiting and I am truly having fun, both writing and reading your reactions, so let's keep it up!_

* * *

_**Chapter 7 – She is pregnant**_

Henry got his books and closed his locker. Math, then chemistry. Wasn't life full of little pleasures? He stuffed the book violently on his backpack and kept walking.

A group of boys passed by him apparently discussing girls. They laughed out loud about something and Henry stopped by the water fountain. He pretended he was drinking water as he thought.

He wanted so much to open himself up to his mom. He was feeling frustrated and lonely and there was only one kid on that school that seemed to care about him.

They were building the scenarios for drama club, and some parents had came over to help. Mostly fathers with their ladders, paints and tool boxes. The first day Henry painted distractedly a piece of wood as he stared at his classmates and their fathers, one boy holding the ladder as his dad hammered some nails, a father and daughter seated on the floor, tying what would be the sail of a pirate ship.

The second day he hid on the dressing room, pretending he was passing through his lines.

It was one thing to think your dad was dead. It was another totally different to know he was alive, well, and didn't care about you.

And it was even worse not to have someone to talk about it.

He thought about discussing it with his grandfather, but his eyes were so sad when he talked about Henry's father... he didn't want to make him even more sad. He wanted to talk to his mom about it, she was the one he would always talk to, but he was still mad. He wanted her to apologize. He wanted to have some compensation for passing so many years of his life not knowing his dad was alive.

He wanted to meet his dad.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

He looked up. There was Andrea, with her golden hair parted in two braids.

"Memorizing my lines."

"You already did, last week. I helped you, remember?"

"I just want to make sure I know everything."

"It is going to be ok, silly." she said, entering the room. "Let's go out and help them with the painting."

He slowly put the papers down. He didn't want to, so he would take as much time as possible.

"Are you excited?" she asked.

"A little nervous." He said, shrugging.

"Everybody is. Are your parents coming to see it? My mom is bringing my two younger brothers, even if she says they can't behave that well. And Dad is going to pick up grandma and grandpa, and we are going out for dinner after. Maybe you could come with us!"

"No, it is fine. My mom is the only one coming anyway."

"Really? Will your dad be working?"

Henry sighed. He had been transferred to that school just some months before and being quiet and not making friends easily, no one knew much about his family.

"It is... just me and my mom."

"Oh." for the first time she looked to be tongue-tied.

"Maybe my grandpa can come." he remembered, feeling a little hopeful.

"That would be fun." she said with a little smile. "Well, if you guys want to come with us to have dinner, you are welcome to do so."

Henry smiled.

"Thank you, Andrea."

"What about that painting?"

**~X~**

Emma washed her face with cold water. She looked at herself on the mirror. Oh, those headaches were taking a toll on her.

It had started some weeks before. She didn't have that much problem with morning sickness anymore, what was a blessing. But that was because she was in the middle of the second trimester now, as it was easy to notice. Her choice of clothes of that day made it obvious she was pregnant. A blouse that used to be loose around her hips was now pressed tight against her belly, and people on the metro would even offer their seats to her.

She was worried.

She kept thinking about the future, most of the time worrying about things that didn't happen yet. She was not happy about going into labor again and every time she thought about it she would cringe, but that was the smallest of her problems. She worried about that kid, just as much as she worried about Henry. Henry, that was not doing good in school lately.

"_He is not paying attention in classes, he doesn't care about assignments... he is a smart boy, but we can't help him if he doesn't help himself."_

The words of his teacher floated in her mind.

"_Has he said anything to justify his lack of interest?" She had asked_

"_He said the subjects in schools are useless and he is not going to use it for anything."_

Oh, the headache struck her again.

She took a look at her watch. It was almost five. Maybe she could leave work earlier. She had worked until late that week, she was sure there would be no problem. She would go home, take a long bath then order food. That's what she needed – to relax and eat something.

When her boss worried about her going home by herself she said she was going fine.

Oh, she regretted that.

Once she was on the street she thought she felt better. The headache was still there, but the wind awoke her from the previous sleepy state.

She remembered the one side talk she had the other day with Henry.

"_Tell me how I can help you, kid."_

He had been lying down in bed, hugging his own body. He liked school, and he liked to be part of the drama club, but some days he came home so sad that it scared the hell out of her.

"_Has something happened? Did you get into a fight again?"_

"_No."_

"_Then why are you like this?"_

And she got no answer. She was seriously thinking about taking Henry to a psychologist. He was never a boy to have many friends, but lately he had been even more isolated than usual, even before Gold and the discovery that his father wasn't dead.

Emma stopped walking, resting a hand on top of her belly and breathing in and out. She felt a little fluster. The wind that once was reinvigorating was starting to make her cold. She buttoned up the overly large coat she was wearing, bracing herself to see if she would feel better.

She looked around. She was on the 66th, still far from home. She started to think it was stupid to leave the police station by herself and walk home. At first she thought the walk would do her good, but it was clear that was not the case. When the sunlight started to blind her, she got really worried. She held a handrail and a man that was passing by asked if she was ok.

"I am fine, Sir."

The man left and she thought about going back to the police station. She was still far from home.

A sudden thought hit her. She was closer to Neal's apartment than to her work. She decided it was time to bet on Gold. She fished her phone out of her purse.

"Gold? It's Emma. Are you home?"

**~X~**

Gold sat patiently on the couch. He thought the call was weird. Emma never called him, he was always the one to reach her out. And for her to tell him that she was coming by? That was even more weird.

It looked like long minutes passed by before he heard the intercom. He allowed her in and waited. He opened the door of the apartment. No sign of her. He waited a little longer. Nothing. He finally decided to go down the stairs, limping slowly. He found her between the second and the third floors, bracing a wall.

"Emma? Are you ok?"

Her forehead was glistening with sweat. She breathed in deeply before answering.

"ve'been better."

"What is the matter?" he asked, dropping his cane and holding her arm as she slowly slid down the wall until she was in a seating position.

"I don't know." her voice sounded broken.

"What happened?"

"Haven't been feeling for..."

Before he could ask anything else, she passed out on his arms.

"Emma?" She was unconscious. He pulled her head to rest on top of his legs, both sprawled on the cold floor of the staircase. He looked up and down the empty staircase, then back to her.

Gold tried to remember things he knew before magic or the Dark One. What should he do? He put her purse aside, and took her scarf out, so she could breath more easily. She was still unconscious, and he decided that in that world the best thing to do was call 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Yes, yes." he said, opening the buttons of Emma's coat as he spoke. "My daughter-in-law just passed out with no apparent reason."

"Ok, Sir. Is she breathing?"

"Yes, she is."

"But she is not conscious, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is correct." He answered again, finally opening the coat and exposing the blouse she was wearing under it, wanting to make sure she didn't have anything on the way so she could easily breath.

"I am going to send a unit to the location we have here, Broadway, 153. Is there any special or medical condition we should know about?"

There was silence, and the woman tried again.

"Sir? Do you hear me?"

"Yes." Gold finally found his voice. He was staring with surprise at her blouse that exposed an expanded stomach. "She is pregnant."


	8. Worlds apart

_The wave of inspiration was pretty good this week! :D  
This is great because next week I will have vacations and, consequently, no new chapters. But don't worry, I will come back, fresh and new, soon enough.  
So, about the story. I've been struggling with the scene of Neal leaving the EF for some time now, but I think I finally have it. It is not going to be on this chapter but it will happen soon. :D  
About them going back to Storybrooke or the EF, I don't know when that will happen yet. First Neal needs to figure out how to find them. But it will happen eventually, after all, for the prophecy to happen, the babies need to be reunited.  
So here we go again, pals!  
_

* * *

_**Chapter 8 – Worlds apart**_

"Pass the bottle around, Grumpy!" the dwarf laughed. He took one more sip before passing the bottle to David.

David put a hand on Phillip's shoulder. The other man couldn't stop smiling.

"I want to congratulate you, my friend. And wish lots of happiness to you and your family. Had you decide on a name before parting?"

"Yes." Phillip answered, still smiling. "William, if it was to be a boy."

"So let's drink to the health of William, son of Phillip!" David exclaimed, raising the bottle before taking a sip.

He passed the bottle ahead, looking around. Between all the ones celebrating the good news they just received – Aurora had given birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy – there was one person that didn't seem to be sharing the happiness.

"Are you ok?"

Neal raised his eyes as David sat by his side. He had been staring at the flames for so long that he lost track of time and space. He had been on their company for three days now, having met them when he was coming back from the Dark Castle and deciding to join their party for part of the trip.

"Yeah, I am fine."

There was silence as Neal's saddened eyes went back to the fire. David sighed.

"There were not many things to celebrate lately." he said in a soft voice. "That's why all of us are putting our problems aside for a while and joining Phillip in his happiness."

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the spirits... it's just... this made me think. Time passes by so fast, you know? Today is Aurora, soon it will be Snow, then Belle..." He added the last name just mentally – then Emma.

David nodded, not having a clue about what the other man was thinking.

"In a blink of an eye time flies." Neal added, slowly.

"Yeah. One day they are newborns, on the next they are twenty eight." David said with a sad smile. "Neal, I know you've lost a lot of Henry growing up, but so did Emma. So did Snow and I with her. We are all still missing them, but there is nothing we can do about it tonight. So why don't you go congratulate Phillip? It will do good for both of you."

Neal thought about spilling the beans right then. He thought about telling David he was terrified he would never find a way to travel between worlds again, or that he would take years to do so. He thought about telling him he didn't want to miss the birth of his second child, or the first steps, or anything else for that matter

He just thought about it.

He nodded, then both of them stood up. Something on Neal's collar caught the fire's light, catching the attention of David. Neal looked to were the other man was staring.

"I kept it." He said, holding up the swan's necklace. "She gave me back when she first found me, saying that nothing good had came from us being together. I intend to give it back to her on the right moment."

David nodded. He wanted to know more about that man's story with his daughter, but he felt like it was not his place to ask.

"That's the phrase, Neal. The right moment."

**~X~**

Emma woke up hearing a constant beep, the smell of alcohol filling her nostrils. There was a weight on her hip, so she opened her eyes. Henry was sleeping in a chair, his head resting on her right hip. She was not home. She was... at a hospital.

Before she could think about crazy theories, Gold opened the door. He looked relieved to see her awake.

"How are you feeling?"

"Odd. What happened?"

"You passed out, got me quiet the fright."

"You called an ambulance?"

"Didn't know what else I could do. It is not like I have a car to drive. I am glad I did."

"And Henry...?"

"Picked him up at home, your neighbor had just walked him from the bus stop. He was really worried about you."

She dropped her eyes to her son, caressing his hair. His hand was resting on top of hers. Did that mean the silence treatment was over? She wished things didn't need to get to that point for her son talk to her again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She raised her eyes, but Gold was still by the door, his cane firm on the ground. It took some seconds for her to realize what he was talking about.

"Gold..." she didn't know what to say. He held a hand up.

"No, it is alright. You don't own me and explanation."

She thankfully nodded, not trusting her voice.

"When I called the ambulance I didn't know how to explain why you passed out until I saw it... You got lucky."

Emma looked at him, worried. She said softly as to not wake Henry up.

"Is the baby alright? What did the doctor say?"

"I will call him so he can talk to you. You are fine now, both of you are."

He left the room and she resumed the caress on her son's hair. It looked like Gold had saved her, and now he knew the truth.

There was no doubt in her mind that she could trust him.

It turned out her blood pressure was high. No wonder, she thought, with everything that was going on lately. Just the fact she was having a baby was reason enough to make her pressure high.

"You need to slow down, Ms. Swan. Don't stress yourself out, try to exercise a little everyday, eat healthily and in between small intervals."

"Why was my blood pressure so high?" she asked "Is there a risk for the baby?"

"It is not uncommon and it may not have major effects if you are careful. Like anything else, it might be related to emotional causes."

She lowered her eyes to Henry, sighing. She couldn't be irresponsible with her health. She had two kids to look after and there was no one else in the worl..

"Are you her father?" the doctor asked Gold, that was seated on the far end of the room, listening intently.

"Father-in-law." he said, before Emma could say anything.

"Right, you were the one that called emergency. That is good, I can trust you will keep an eye on her."

"Yes, I will."

Emma looked from one man to the other, thinking it was unbelievable that they were treating her like a little kid.

But she also thought that it was good to know there was someone to get her back again.

She felt movement by her side. Henry, that was still resting a head on her hip, started to move and she caressed his mussy hair. The doctor smiled.

"I will leave you to rest. I will ask you to spend the night so we can monitor your vitals, but you will be discharged tomorrow."

"Mom?" Henry said as she saw the doctor leave and Gold following right behind him. The door closed with a soft click and she smiled to her boy.

"Hey, Henry."

"Are you ok? Is the baby ok?"

"Yes, we are both fine. The doctor said I can go home tomorrow."

"Why not today?"

"They want to watch my blood pressure, it was too high, that's how I ended up here."

"Mom, you really scared me. Mrs. Clark had just walked me and Brian home when grandpa knocked. He looked really worried, I thought something bad had happened."

"Your grandpa looked worried?"

"Really worried. He was telling me, after we got a cab, how we should keep an eye on you and take care of you and if he knew you were pregnant he would have done it before."

Emma looked at her son, thinking that if she was not sure before that he was trustworthy, now there was no doubt. She felt good finally discussing that with Henry – he hadn't given the chance to her on the past weeks.

"You should have told him about the baby before." Henry said, dropping his eyes. She knew he was not only referring to hiding the pregnancy from Gold.

"Henry, I am so sorry. You had the right to be mad at me, but I am happy you are talking to me again."

"Why didn't you told me my dad was alive?" he asked, and she could see the hurt in his eyes.

"Baby, he was a thief... he was everything I wasn't proud of... he... he broke my heart!"

"I could have taken the truth. All this time he was living in New York, and I thought he was dead!"

"I was afraid that, if I told you the truth, you would go after him."

"Of course I would!"

"And he would break your heart, just like he broke mine."

"You thought the same thing about grandpa, and he ended up saving your life."

She sighed. Henry had a point. Besides, they could pass the rest of the day discussing the subject and not getting anywhere.

"I want to redeem myself, Henry. Tell me, what do you want to know about your dad?"

The boy didn't look at her at first and for a terrible second she thought he had gone back to the silence treatment. But then he raised his eyes and he looked curious.

"What does he look like?"

She smiled.

"He has dark hair, just like yours. And his eyes are this shade of blue that makes you think they are dark at first. His eyes wrinkle when he smiles, and he has a really nice smile."

Henry smiled, mesmerized. Never before she talked about his dad like that.

"I have one picture of him, I can show you."

"I like the way you describe him." Henry affirmed. "Is he quiet? Talks in a formal, funny way like grandpa?"

Emma laughed.

"No, Henry. He is quite the joker. He likes to play around, and is the most hopeful person I ever met."

Henry nodded, feeling a painful ache in his chest. He wanted to meet his dad _so bad. _

"How did you guys meet?"

She rolled her eyes and got closer to him.

"I was young and stupid so please, don't get any ideas, do you hear me?"

He nodded, not understanding completely. She inhaled deeply.

"I just got out of the system, and was living in Portland. I saw this yellow bug parked in an alley and since I needed to get out of the city..."

**~X~**

When Gold entered the room one hour later, it was quiet. Henry was passed out on the couch and Emma was watching him with a frown.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, making her turn around. Her lips lightly twitched up.

"Yes, it is. We talked, what was good. Come in."

He did so, closing the door.

"Gold, I wanted to thank you... for taking care of me and Henry."

He shook his shoulders, uncomfortable.

"I did what anyone else would have done in my position."

"And I want to apologize for not telling you about the pregnancy before. I think I was afraid..." she said, not looking at him. "I didn't know you, I didn't know if I could trust you."

"You were protecting your family." he said. "I would have done the same."

"I may be a little overprotective, but it has been just the two of us for the longest of times..." she said, and he got scared when her eyes filled with tears. Some silent seconds passed before she whispered "Why did he leave?"

Gold was startled by the question, but he knew what she meant. He had asked himself who would be the father of that child. The doctor had said she was on the sixth month, so it happened when they were in Storybrooke, before Neverland. He was afraid it could be his enemy's child. But that whispered question made him think in another direction.

"He needed to, he had no choice. I know it is not of my business, dearie, but would you tell me who is the father of this child? Is it my son?"

She nodded, trying to dry some tears, then whispered "Yes." Gold didn't know what to do with himself. At some level he was happy – his boy was going to be a father again – but it mostly broke his heart. Everything was out of its place. Baelfire should be there, with the woman he loved and his children.

"Did he know about the kid?" Gold asked again, momentarily forgetting about Emma's fake memories.

"Which one?" Emma said, trying to make a joke as more tears streamed down her face. "I don't remember telling him about Henry, but my memories are confuse. He certainly didn't know about this one." she pointed to her belly, a little hill covered in a hospital gown.

"He knew about Henry." Gold stated. "And that is reason enough form him to come back, even if he needs to cross worlds to do so. After all, he is my son."


	9. Between shadows and light

_I am back! :D  
I had a great week off, a wonderful trip, and now I am all ready to endure routine again.  
So here we go with another one. I was feeling a little poetic with this one. I mention a song on it, it is Golden Slumbers by the Beatles. I have no rights over the song!  
And hold on there, cause things are about to get good!_

* * *

_**Chapter 9 – Between shadows and light **_

"Boy, you probably have homework to do, don't you? Why don't you do that, and let your mom rest?"

Gold had paid a cab for her and Henry home and, as she got her boots and coat off, she heard him bossing Henry around. It sometimes surprised her how good he was with the boy. But it shouldn't, she thought. He was a father too and for all she knew, for most of the time he had raised Neal by himself.

Sometimes she fantasied it was Neal, not Gold with them.

She went to her room to change, thinking that was silly. Neal had left her twice. She shouldn't be hopeful just because of Gold's words an stories.

She got to the kitchen, an old pair of sweatpants on, intending to check if Henry was really doing his homework. It surprised her the fact that he was not only doing so, Gold was seated by his side, two mugs on the table.

"Here you go, dearie." he said, putting one of the mugs in front of her. "Drink it up. Go to bed."

"Gold, I appreciate it, but I really need..."

"To make dinner? No way. I can cook something for Henry and I can keep an eye on him. You really need to rest."

"I am not a baby to be watched, grandpa!" Henry complained, what made both of them smile. But he stood from the chair by the kitchen table were he was doing his homework, and walked to his mom.

"He is right, Mom. You should rest." he said, hugging her. "Wow!" he said suddenly, letting go of her. "Your belly is getting pretty big!"

Emma laughed and let the boy touch it with curious hands. She left a kiss on top of Henry's head and said thank you to Gold before going to her bed with the mug of tea. Maybe she could take it easy that night. She realized, when she woke up at the hospital, how much she already loved the little kid growing inside of her and how terrified would it be if something bad happened.

Yes, she could take care of herself. By doing so, she was taking care of the kid.

The process was going to be hard, but if she did it once, she could do it another time. She could be a mom again.

**~X~**

Emma was asleep. Henry had finished his homework, had dinner, took a shower and went to bed as well. Before doing so the boy had brought Gold pillows and covers and made him a bed on the couch. He was sitting on his makeshift bed, thinking that, even if it was good the feeling of taking care of a family again, it didn't feel totally right. It should be Baelfire, not him, to do those little things.

He was possessed by the sudden fear of never finding his son or Belle again. Without magic he didn't know how to look for them. Emma and Henry could live forever with those fake memories and there was nothing he could do about that.

He had the guess that maybe all of that was made by Regina. Maybe even after Malcolm was gone, there was no way to stop the curse. But that was a pretty bad perspective – it meant that Henry, born on that land, and Emma, the savior, were there with fake memories but all the others were in another land. Regina had probably sent them home.

And if Belle and Baelfire were back in the Enchanted Forest and he was stuck there... there was nothing he could do. They couldn't even know he was alive.

All he could do at the moment was take care of his son's family.

With that thought he fell asleep. But he didn't sleep for long. He woke up some time later, confused as where he was at first. He recognized the living room of Emma's apartment and relaxed. Just then he noticed a sweet singing on the background. He listened intently. It sounded like Emma's voice, soft and low.

_Once there was a way  
to get back homeward_

_Once there was a way  
__to get back home_

_Sleep, pretty darling,  
__Do not cry  
__And I will sing a lullaby_

Her voice got higher, she sounded about to cry. Gold wrinkled his forehead in thought. He shouldn't interfere, but he couldn't just go back to sleep. He slowly stood.

He got his cane and tried to make as little noise as possible as he walked to Henry's room, where the sound was coming from. Emma was still singing the last verses of the song, her hand caressing the dark hair of an asleep boy. The glim of tears shone on her face and sitting like that, crossed legs and bending forward, made her bump look even bigger. Gold decided to giver her privacy, but as he started to leave she stood up and saw him there.

"Are you ok?" He asked, not able to ignore the fact she was crying.

"Yes, I am." she said, drying her tears and trying to smile. "Henry had a nightmare, I sang for him to sleep."

"You were crying." Gold said, his voice worried.

He wanted to know what was happening, but he also wanted to give her a safe escape. If she denied she had been crying, he would leave it at that.

"Probably the hormones." she said, looking at Henry with love. "He is growing so fast. Sometimes it looks like the last years were just a dream."

Gold didn't dare to make a comment on that and the two of them were quiet for some time. Suddenly Emma whispered, still looking at Henry:

"Neal used to sing that song to me."

"He did?" Gold asked, hoping to hear more. He knew so little about the time Emma and his son spent together.

"Yes. I was never a heavy sleeper and, sleeping in the bug, the two of us in the back seat, wasn't exactly comfortable. He would kiss my eyelids and sing until I feel asleep. Even if I joked about him not having a good singing voice. That made me feel safe.

Her eyes were shining and a small smile played on her lips. Then she looked up, remembered where she was, and the moment was gone.

"Well, I should go to bed." she said, unconsciously putting a hand on her belly as she passed by Gold.

"Do you think he is ok?" he asked when she was already on the hallway.

"I am sorry?"

"My son." Gold said, not looking at her. "Do you think he is alive and well?"

"Gold... I don't know." she said softly.

"I would feel something if he wasn't, right? I would know it."

He sounded so broken that Emma came back and put a hand on his shoulder. The truth was, he had used magic as a crutch for far too long. Without it, he felt lost.

"I am sure he is alright."

Then where is he? Gold thought, but didn't voice it.

**~X~**

Gold took care of his son's family for the next days. He would go shopping, cook dinner and, much to Emma's dismay, clean the house.

She claimed she was fine. He claimed her doctor had put him in charge.

Henry would hide a smile.

They would have dinner together and make jokes -and that's when he most missed Belle.

In the days he burned the eggs, he would think of what a great omelet she would make if she was there. In the days he heard Emma or Henry cry in their sleep, chased by nightmares, he would think of how she would be able to comfort them.

He would think if he would ever have his body wrapped around hers again. And, just as much as he wondered if he would ever see Belle again, he wondered if Bae would find his way back to his family.

"I am totally capable of taking the trash outside, Gold." Emma complained, a hand holding her bulging belly.

"So am I, Emma. But right now I can get to the end of the hallway with my cane faster than you can with your kangaroo pouch."

Henry had joked that Emma looked like a mama kangaroo with her funny way of walking and that soon became the inner joke of the small family.

"Oh my gosh, you and Henry have been so annoying!" she exclaimed, sounding like a stubborn teenager.

"I can wait for Henry on the bus stop. And bring you some donuts from Dunkin' donuts." he said, leaving.

"Chocolate ones!" he heard her yell as he was almost leaving the apartment, what made him smile.

**~X~**

"I can't wait to see my boy!" Robin Hood said as they finally could see the walls of the castle.

"The same for me, pal!" Phillip added with a smile.

It was all they said right after being threw back by a strong gush of wind.

They were almost at Snow and Charming's Castle, but suddenly it was impossible to cross the fields to it.

"Is that a...?"

"Tornado!" Grumpy finished Bashful's mid sentence.

There was no way they could cross the fields now. Not with that big, terrifying tornado coming on their direction.

"What does she want? Just kill us all?" Robin Hood asked.

"That is probably her intention." Regina stated, her forehead wrinkled.

Neal looked at his right side, and David was staring at him. It was like he could read his mind.

"Sir, I can't leave you behind." he said, reading David's expression.

"You need to." David said, a little annoyed that the other man had went back to the `Sir` treatment. Neal was older than him, both in age and experiences, but never seemed to be ready to talk to David as an equal. "It is your chance."

"What is going to happen to you?"

"That is our problem. We can take care of ourselves. Right now I have another mission for you."

Neal looked at the other man, the wind whipping their faces. Hood and Phillip were ordering everybody to find shelter. He went back to stare at David.

"Once I put my baby girl on a wardrobe, worried because there was no one to take care of her, or so I thought. There was nothing else I could do back then. Now I am sending you to take care of her, like I know you did before and like I know you will do again."

Neal bowed his head, knowing David was right, knowing he needed to make this decision with no delay.

"Please, Neal. Go and take care of my daughter and grandson."

"And granddaughter."

"What was that?" David yelled, the wind too strong. "What did you say?"

Neal dismounted, getting closer to David.

"Sir, I may find Emma pregnant. Ask Belle about it, she will tell you our theory."

Neal pulled the hourglass from his cape and turned around, walking straight in the direction of the tornado.

"What is he doing?" Phillip yelled. "Come back, Neal! Are you crazy?"

"Let him go." David said finding shelter with the others, then watching the silhouette of the man getting smaller and smaller, his steps getting less steadier as he tried to fight the wind. "He has business of his own to do."

It didn't take long before they couldn't see Neal anymore.

"Good luck." David whispered under his breath. "I hope to see you again."


	10. Inner turmoil

_Here we have a new one! I wrote this in a different sequence originally, but rearranged it , and I think it makes more sense now. It also had scenes that I ended up leaving to the next chapter. That may mean that the next chapter will come faster.  
I would like to thank you for your continued support with reviews, alerts and favorites. It always brings a smile to my face. :D_

* * *

_**Chapter 10 – Inner turmoil**_

Emma shook her mug of tea so the sugar in the bottom would melt. She sighed. The baby had been pretty active, kicking her ribs all the time. She rested a hand on the place where she felt the last kick, imagining, in her head, a perfect little baby inside. She had been to the doctor that week and everything looked fine. Her blood pressure was not normal yet, but it was not as high as the last time. He asked if she wanted to know if t was a boy or a girl, but she said no – she wanted it the old way, just knowing at birth.

She had been thinking a lot about Neal lately.

Maybe it was all the conversations with Henry. Now that the boy knew his dad was alive, he would ask tons of questions. How did his voice sound like? What was his favorite color? Did he like to read, like Henry did?

On the table by the window, standing on front of a picture that Henry and Emma had taken right after moving to New York, was an old picture of Emma and Neal – the one they took at the Carnival, the only one she had of them together. Henry stated that he loved it and he sneaked in her room to take a look at it so frequently that she decided to just leave it in the living room.

Henry sighed as well and she looked up. He was very concentrated on his game boy – probably the zombies had killed him or something.

She looked at the other side of the living room, where Gold was seated with a book. Lately, when he was not helping her around, he was reading, something she had never seen him doing before. Since the time she went to the hospital that he had been different. He was extremely protective, and he was really kind to Emma and Henry, but there was something... a sadness on his eyes that Emma couldn't understand. Every time she thanked him for something he had a look of resigned sadness and she always wondered exactly what happened on his past. He would never talk about that subject, unless it was some story of Neal as a kid.

She decided it was time to put something together for lunch and for once Gold didn't complain about her moving around. She was taking some chicken out of the fridge to make sandwiches when she saw Henry's game boy been thrown on the cushions of the sofa. He turned on the TV instead and Emma smiled. He must be in a really hard level.

He had been watching TV for five minutes when he stated:

"They do sing a lot."

Emma looked up to see a Disney cartoon on. It seemed like now he had a more cryptic eye than when he was a little, excited boy watching it.

"It is annoying." Gold said, raising his eyes of the book.

Henry nodded, absentmindedly saying:

"I know that they are true love and everything... but how did Belle fell for a monster?"

"He is not a monster!" Emma and Henry raised their eyes to Gold, surprised. He even dropped his book, so distressed he was.

"I am sorry, Grandpa." Henry said, unsure. "The guy has its charm, I suppose."

Gold picked his book up, trying to act nonchalantly.

"It is an inaccurate movie anyway. It got everything wrong."

Henry looked at Emma, that shrugged.

"Lunch is almost ready. Henry, can you grab the plates, please?"

"In a minute, Mom." the boy said.

Gold closed his book, sighed and stood up. He entered the hallway in the bathroom's direction and Emma could swear she heard him whispering curses.

"Your grandpa is cranky today." she said, starting to lay the plates on the table since Henry was still distracted.

"I think he doesn't like cartoons." Henry said with a shrug.

Emma agreed, remembering Neal's distressed reaction once, when they had turned on the TV of a hotel room to Peter Pan's cartoon.

**~X~**

It was a Tuesday when they realized they hadn't seen Gold for the weekend, or the days after, and Emma decided to call him. No one answered on Neal's apartment and, under Henry's insistence, they went to check on him.

When they got there, they knocked but no one answered. Henry tried the door, and it was unlocked.

"Stay behind me, Henry." Emma whispered, opening the door a crack and watching inside. She didn't like how that looked.

Inside everything looked normal. The window was closed and there was nothing out of place. She opened the door all the way.

"Gold?"

They entered the apartment. She asked Henry to stay by the door, and advanced to the room.

There she found him, sleeping in what looked like an uncomfortable position, on a chair. He was holding a piece of paper in a clutch and, as Emma noticed, there were more sprawled on the bed. She got closer and recognized the heavy traces of coal. Those were Neal's drawings.

She had caught him drawing only once or twice. He would do it just when he couldn't sleep. She knew there were memories haunting him, but he wouldn't talk about it. He said that drawing his fears would help him easy his mind.

As she remembered it she stared at the pictures that looked, pretty much, like they came out of a nightmare. Shadows and daggers were everywhere, as long as whirlpools. What surprised her, though, was the lighter picture in the centre. It was a smiling girl, wearing glasses and ponytail – a picture of her.

"Mom?"

She startled when she heard Henry's voice by the bedroom door. "Is he alright?" the boy asked, noticing Gold.

"Yes, he is sleeping." she whispered, coming close to Henry. "It looks like he found some old drawings."

"What are those?"

Emma looked at him. She had promised to be honest, didn't she?

"Your father used to draw."

"He did?" the boy asked, excited.

"Yeah. Mostly to make the nightmares disappear. But it looks like he draw other things too." She said, reaching the drawing that portrayed her.

"Is that you, Mom? How old were you?"

"Seventeen. It was around the time we were together."

"You look so..." he stopped to think and Emma imagined he was going to say `young`.

"...happy."

"Yeah." she mumbled, also looking at the picture. Did she really look happy like that back then?

Gold moved in the chair and they both jumped.

"Come on Henry, let's go."

"Is he going to be fine?"

Emma sighed. She knew a haunted person when she saw one.

"Tell you what, I will pass to check on him on my way to work tomorrow. We can leave a note, if you want. But let's let him sleep for now."

Emma did that on the next day. Gold opened the door for her this time, and he looked tired.

"Did you see our note?"

"Yes, yes. I am sorry... for worrying you."

"You should lock your door, you know?"

He nodded, sitting on the couch. She saw one of Neal's drawings on the coffee table, but decided not to mention it.

"Henry wanted to make an invitation. He is going to have this play at school... he is very excited about it. He wants you coming."

Gold looked up.

"Of course. I would be happy to go."

"Maybe we can have dinner together tomorrow so you can tell him that?"

Gold nodded and his eyes fell on the drawing. Emma sat on a chair, looking at the man.

"Gold... what happened?"

He kept quiet for some moments. Then pointed to the paper.

"I was looking for some scissors, I didn't intended to pry... but I found these on a drawer."

She looked at the drawing he was pointing at. It looked like the down view of a whirlpool, and there was a creature looking down. Gold's eyes were anguished, but he moved on.

"I remember how Bae always had a great hand for drawing, but he didn't do that often. See, I wanted a picture of him, I needed to insist and bribe him..." a little laugh escaped from his lips. "He was such a determined boy."

Without even noticing, Emma smiled.

"I wonder if I will ever see him again. At this point in my life, I've spent more time apart than next to him and I know it is all my fault..."

"Where is he, Gold?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"Oh, if I knew. I thought he was dead once, did you know that? I don't wish the feeling to anyone. He is the one that thinks I am dead now. If he does come back, it will be a miracle."

That got in Emma's head.

**~X~**

Emma touched her belly, feeling a kick almost immediately. "You do have a strong kick, kid." She wondered if Neal would be happy with kids. They never mentioned the subject when they were together, just living in the moment. She guessed that, if he inherited Gold's skills, he would be an awesome dad.

"I am hungry, Mom!"

She looked up.

"Why don't we go to the restaurant on the corner for lunch? Did you finish studying for your Biology test?"

"Yes, I did that yesterday."

Emma smiled. Since Henry started talking to her again, his grades had improved. She wondered if it also had something to do with the fact there were two people asking him to do his homework, not just one.

"That is good. So we can go."

Henry looked at her suspiciously.

"If you don't want to eat hamburgers, I can eat yours." she said with a smile.

"Grandpa said you should eat healthily."

"And I am. But one burger is not going to hurt. It has been so long since I ate one." she whined.

Henry crossed his arms, like he was the parent, not Emma.

"No french fries."

"Alright, deal. Can we go now?"

They left the apartment and Henry was quiet for some time. As they waited for the elevator, he voiced his thoughts.

"Is Grandpa alright?"

"Yes... he just needs... some time."

"Is he sad because of my dad?"

"I think that is part of the problem, kid." she said, as the elevator door opened. " But he said we can have dinner together tonight, so we can try to cheer him up. You can tell him about your play."

Henry didn't answer anything, and Emma thought that strange. She looked at him and the boy seemed to be in deep thought.

"Do you think my father is dead? Like, for real?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Grandpa doesn't know where he went, he just... vanished. Maybe something happened. Have you seen anything at your work? Can you check?"

"I, ah... sure, if it makes you feel better."

As they walked, Henry kept thinking about that. He wished his dad could come back, this way he could meet him, his grandpa could be happy and his mom wouldn't miss him either. Because he knew she did. He noticed it by the way she talked about him or stared at his picture.

Like he had done before, Henry started to mentally wish _May he not be dead, may he not be dead, may he not be dead_ and then, as other thought mixed up with the first, he added _May he come back, may I meet him, may I meet my father_.

While the boy did that his father was in some place at the verge of different worlds, about to start his journey, thinking, _Hold on, Emma, Henry. I am getting to you. I promised I would, didn't I?_


	11. You've got to hide your love away

_Hey there, guess what I brought to you? A reunion! Yay!  
I can tell you not everything will be flowers and rainbows. But hey, things need to get worse in order to get better! ;)_

* * *

_**Chapter 11 - You've got to hide your love away**_

"She may be WHAT?"

"David, calm yourself down." Snow ordered, looking from Belle to him.

"How did this happen? Who...?"

"We know nothing for sure yet." Belle said.

"But if you think there is a chance... did Neal...?"

Belle just nodded, what made David punch the table.

"I am going to kill him!"

"David!"

"Snow, he got our daughter pregnant! Again! And left her! Again!"

"He didn't do that by himself, and he was not the only one to leave her. Now calm yourself down, I really want to hear what Belle has to say."

The two pregnant women looked at each other and Belle resumed her explanation.

"It was the announce of your pregnancy that made me remember this old prophecy Rumple predicted once. It mentioned four kids, born from different mothers, close in time. There was you, Aurora and me, what made three of us"

"And what makes you think it is Emma the fourth one?" David asked.

"We were trying to figure out who else could it be, there is this part that mentions... `the sons of hope and the daughters of light and darkness'."

Belle could almost see the wheels turning inside Snow's and David's heads.

"So yours would be the daughter of darkness..." Snow voiced "Leaving the daughter of light to Emma."

"Yes, the daughter of the Savior. At least that was my theory. But there was no way to know if it was true, at least not until Neal told me..."

She stopped herself, looking at David.

"Did they sleep together?" Snow asked "Emma was closing herself to him since Neverland, when could that have happened?"

"It was before Neverland, when they all came back from New York."

Snow nodded, in deep thought. David just grumbled.

"That was several months ago... if this is true, she must be almost having the baby by now."

"By Neal's calculation she must be on the seventh month."

Snow sighed, wishing she could be with her daughter.

"Do you think this is really what the prophecy predicted?" David asked.

"I don't know. But I don't believe it is just a coincidence." the woman shrugged.

David nodded, thinking about what that could mean to his family.

"I hope Neal is successful on his journey." Both women looked at him and he added " But I am still going to kill him."

**~X~**

Neal fell face first on the floor. He raised quickly though, looking around him like a mad men.

He noticed the many doors on the hallway. Was he in a building? The door on front of him had a big number on it - 311.

He heard footsteps coming down the hallway and turned around.

"Hello there..." A woman carrying two grocery bags said, looking curiously at him. It was like he had a second head or something by the way she was staring at him.

"Hi." he said, immediately getting his act up, something that got him out of problems so many times before. "I was looking for my girlfriend, but it looks like she is not home."

The woman looked at the door he had been staring at "Emma?"

He sighed relieved, and smiled.

"Yes, that's her."

"I didn't know she was dating! I am Mrs Clark, her neighbor."

Neal stretched his hand to shake hers and it was then he noticed the leather gloves – and all the rest of the wardrobe from the Enchanted Forest. No wonder the woman had been staring so insistently at him.

"I was..." he started, waiving to his clothes as the woman observed him. "Henry did..."

"Is it about Henry's play? He is pretty excited about it."

"Yes, it is!" Neal said, once more relieved. She was making his act pretty easy. "I've been helping him with it."

"Well, you are a very dedicated boyfriend, that I can say." the woman said, her hungry eyes traveling through his leather jacket. "Too bad she is not home."

"Did she leave?" he asked, a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, saw her and Henry on my way in. It looks like they were going to Tony's burgers."

"Really? Where is that?"

"One block from here, right on the corner by CVS."

"Oh, that one." he said, pretending he knew where it was. "I think I will try to catch them up then."

The woman waved a goodbye and Neal strode down the stairs.

He wondered where he was in the US. Where would Emma and Henry driven to after they left? His guess would be Boston, that's where she was living before going to Storybrooke. Or maybe even Portland.

He left the building complex, inhaling the air outside.

"Could it be...?"

He looked around, the brick buildings, the skyline, the tons of taxis and, most important, no one caring that he was a guy dressed in medieval clothes in the middle of the street.

He was in New York.

"Why did you come to New York, Emma?" he asked under his breath, as he started to walk on the direction of the CVS he could spot. He took off his cape, throwing it in a nearby dumpster, then his gloves. Maybe if he wore just the undershirt Emma wouldn't be so freaked out with his clothes.

He walked down the street, his heart beating so fast that he could hear its beating pounding on his ears. Her neighbor had said the restaurant on the corner...

As he fixed his eyes on the big window panel, his breath caught. The restaurant was crowded but he could see, among so many people, the blond hair that always caught his eye. Emma was sitting on a booth and in front of her - whom Neal could see just the back of the head - was Henry for sure.

She was beautiful.

She was talking to Henry and laughing. But there was something more... some kind of glow lightening her features.

Neal was ready to run to them and embrace both in a tight hug. But he stopped himself just in time.

That was old Emma, the Emma that ran after him because she made a deal with his father. She pretty much hated him. He needed to be careful on the approach.

"Don't you think you had enough sugar for the whole week, kid?" Emma asked as Henry came back to the table with another cup of soda. "And here were you, lecturing me about eating healthily."

"I haven't drank soda for so long!" the boy said, putting the cup on the table and tearing the package of the straw apart.

"Your grandpa does a good job of keeping us on track, doesn't him?"

Henry didn't answer and Emma looked up. The straw had fallen to the ground, but the kid didn't pay attention to that. He was staring to a point above Emma's head, his mouth slightly open.

"Henry?"

Since he didn't react, she turned around. At first she didn't see anything out of order. Then she noticed the tall man by the door, cautiously watching them.

"Neal!" she half gasped, half exclaimed.

At that moment she didn't think. She stood up. All she knew was that they had been separated and it was a miracle he was there. She needed to hug him.

"Oh!" was all he managed to say before he was tightly wrapped on her embrace.

He held her close, or at least, as close as possible with her bump on the way. He closed his eyes, happy, aware that he was holding half of his family on that embrace.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed Henry walking on their direction, his mouth still half open. He loosened his embrace on Emma and she turned around to see Henry coming. That made her wake up from her dazzle and she watched as Henry stopped in front of Neal, not knowing how to react.

"Hey, pal! It is good to see you!" Neal said, hugging Henry tightly. Long seconds passed before Henry let go.

Neal turned to Emma.

"Do you remember?" he asked, mesmerized.

Immediately her demeanor changed. She looked at Henry.

"Henry, can you please get me a sundae?"

"But, Mom!"

"Now, kid!"

The boy sighed, looked at his father then turned around, going to the line of the restaurant. Emma pushed Neal out the door. There was a little alley on the outside, empty at that moment.

"So you remember." she said.

He watched her.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"And you remember the day... this" she said, pointing to her belly "happened."

He looked at her bump. Now that he really saw it, he couldn't take his eyes off it. She looked adorable.

"Yes, I do. At least some parts of it. We did drink a lot of Jack that night."

"That's what it was?" she said, a whining voice that made him laugh. She looked relieved, and Neal couldn't understand why. Her next sentence came to clarify it to him.

"That's good in a certain way, it means it really happened... I wasn't going crazy."

"So... you don't remember?" he asked, confused.

"I didn't at first... I panicked when I discovered I was pregnant and didn't remember being with anyone."

Neal dropped his head. For one moment he thought that, for some reason, Emma remembered everything. She hugged him with such an emotion... but no, of course that pregnancy would just mess up with the fake memories Regina created to her, not vanish them.

When he looked up again he realized her eyes were cold on him.

"So that means I told you about Henry."

"Yes..." he said, knowing he couldn't deny it after his reaction to the boy at the restaurant.

"And still, you left. You left me with two kids. Your kids! You may not have known about this one, but you knew about Henry!"

Neal closed his eyes. It was going to be really hard to explain that to her out of context.

"Look, it was not like I wanted to leave but I needed to, ok? Both times."

She looked furious now.

"Right! I bet you had a great reason to do that!"

"Emma, I am here now. I found my way back."

"For what? So you can abandon us again? I am not going to let it happen! You can go!"

"Em..."

"I said go!" she yelled this time and some of the people that were leaving the restaurant watched them, trying to understand what was going on. Neal sighed. If he insisted, he was going to make things worst. He took one step back.

"This is not finished, ok?" he said softly. "I will be around. I will prove to you... I will prove that you can trust me."

Emma watched him go, not understanding why she felt so bad about it.

Neall passed on front of the window panels again, and saw Henry coming from the cashier with a big sundae on his hands. He smiled and waved to the little boy. Henry waved back, but his face was sad. Neal wondered what exactly the boy knew about him.

"I am going to do right for you, kid." He promised to himself and to his son.


	12. Fights and frights

_What I can say about last night's episode? I am not going to give away any spoilers, because there are people who didn't watch it yet, but I was really disappointed. So I did what I always do when that happens - I retreated myself to the fanfiction world. At least here I am in charge and I can give everybody their happy endings.  
I added a little scene of Belle because I think she is a great character, and she deserves lots of happiness. Oh, and if anyone has suggestions of names for the baby, I am all ears. :D _

* * *

_**Chapter 12 – Fights and frights**_

"You made him go away!"

"He did that himself, Henry!"

"No, he didn't! He came back for us! Why did you need to fight him?"

Emma closed her eyes. The boy had been discussing with her for half an hour now, since they came back from lunch. She could feel her heart beating fast, frustration and anger waving over her.

"He is my father! I don't care if you don't want anything with him, I want! I have the right!"

"I am just afraid of what he can do to us... you and your brother or sister deserve better." she said in a softer voice.

She still couldn't believe he was back.

And he knew about Henry!

And now he knew about the other kid too.

"Wait..." Henry said, for once not screaming. "My brother or sister, you said... is he... is my father..."

Emma exhaled loudly. Now it was out.

"He is the father of both of you."

She expected more yelling, but Henry wrinkled his forehead in thinking.

"Henry..." she said, trying to take advantage of the fact that he was not yelling anymore.

But he distanced himself, running to his room and shutting the door.

Emma decided to give him some time to calm down. Both of them needed to cool off. She was about to sit on the couch when dizziness hit her. She held one of the stools by the kitchen counter tightly, trying to breath in and out calmly.

She was not feeling well at all.

**~X~**

Gold sat on a chair, looking outside the window with glassy eyes. Bae's drawings were all over the coffee table. He had memorized each one of them already. His mind was empty, and his will, almost nonexistent. He knew he needed to start to get ready to leave, he had agreed to have dinner with Emma and Henry, but it was so much easier just staying there... not needing to pretend he was happy, or he found interesting all the stories his daughter-in-law and grandson told him – stories that were just the product of fake memories.

For some reason he was more melancholic than usual that day. He thought about his family, and the constant pain on his chest got stronger. He wondered what Belle was doing at that moment.

"We are almost there, Belle! I need you to push now!"

Belle felt the wave of pain trying to rip her in two. She locked her jaw, breathing in deeply, ready to push that kid out for once.

"You are doing great." Snow White said by her side. "A little more effort and you will meet your child."

She pushed, screaming, putting all her strength left on the task. Somewhere amid the pain, the screams and the weakness came the sweetest of the sounds.

"Your baby is here." Doc said, smiling. "And it is a girl."

Belle closed her eyes, feeling happier than she thought it was possible. She felt Snow's hand on her pressing it lightly.

"Congratulations, mommy." she said with a smile.

While Doc was cleaning up the baby, Snow dried the sweat from Belle's face.

"Thank you." she moaned, aware of the long hours the other woman had passed by her side as she was in labor.

"Mrs. French." Doc said, approaching her with the baby wrapped in a blanket. Granny had made blankets for the three newborns, just like she had once made for Emma. "Don't you want to meet your daughter?"

Belle was almost crying, and when the light weight was put in her arms she teared up and smiled, all at the same time.

"Hello, sweetie." she cooed. "I've been waiting for your arrival."

"She is gorgeous." Snow said as the baby yawned.

"She is." Belle agreed. Her expression dropped a little. "I wish your daddy was here to see your sweet face."

**~X~**

Neal had a long walk to put his thoughts into order. He was so worried about finding Emma and Henry that he forgot about what would be the hardest part of the operation – convincing Emma she could trust him. In the end, his father's hourglass had worked perfectly, bringing him to the exact place he needed to be. He just needed to make Emma trust him. Then he could try to, somehow, help them have their memories back.

It was getting dark and the man knew he shouldn't go after Emma so soon. He new her, if she slept over the information, she would be more tolerant on the next day.

He turned around, intending to check how his old apartment was.

**~X~**

The sound of a buzz made Gold jump. He wondered if someone was ringing the doorbell, but then he realized it was the phone.

He stood up slowly, picking it on the fourth ring.

"Gold! It is Emma" her voice sounded hoarse. "I was wondering... if you were coming..."

That made him wake up from his stupor.

"Yes, yes, I am. Are you all right, dearie?"

"Yeah, great. A little short of breath, maybe. I am not sure. I do feel weird. Can you please come over?"

He recognized her panicked voice and stood up, going to the room to change.

"I am on my way!"

He changed as fast as possible and left the building hurriedly. As he opened the gate on his way to the street he noticed a man looking at the mailboxes, but didn't pay attention to it. He went straight to the street, quickly finding a cab.

Neal turned around when he heard someone passing by fast, a familiar sound on the steps. He didn't see who passed by, but the gate was still hanging open, so he took the opportunity and went upstairs.

He didn't have the keys anymore, but there was nothing he couldn't do with a little metal clip.

He was expecting to see the same apartment he left a few months prior, bur he was surprised to see changes. There were dirty dishes on the sink, a bag of chips in the couch and a coat hanging on one of the chairs. But what surprised him the most were his drawings on the coffee table.

"What the..."

He looked at the old drawings, scenes he knew pretty well form his nightmares. In the middle of them was a sketch he made of Emma.

Was it possible that she had been to the apartment? Was it really her the one that had been there? There was something about the place, a presence...

He entered the bedroom and it was there that he saw the most shocking thing. The glass of water by the bedside, with a little piece of paper on top of it.

That was something from his childhood, something only one person in the world used to do – his dad.

He used to say that he liked to have a glass of water by the bed in case he got thirsty. But after finding a fly swimming on one of his glasses, he started to cover it with a little piece of cardboard or carton.

Neal sat on the bed, staring at the glass.

Was it possible...? But his dad was dead!

Could he have possibly been to that apartment?

**~X~**

"What happened?" As soon as Emma opened the door, Gold shot the question. She was glad to see him as the confident, straight to the point guy man she knew. She needed that, she was starting to panic.

"I don't know, I may be just nervous." She said, breathing in and out.

"Are you feeling any pain?" Gold asked, seeing she was clutching her belly. Was he the one that didn't pay attention or did she get bigger on the last couple of days?

"A little." she said, raising her eyes guiltily.

"We are going to see your doctor, dearie. Where is Henry?"

"In his room. We fought." she answered, once more trying to take a deep breath.

Gold went to the boy's room and knocked.

"Lad, come out! Your mom is not feeling well, we are taking her to the hospital."

The door opened almost immediately.

"Is she ok?"

"That's what we are going to see." Gold said, but his voice sounded worried. "Put your shoes and coat on, come on!"

The three of them made it to the elevator, Gold with a hand on the cane and the other in Emma's back. Henry followed them worriedly, the only one remembering to lock the door and put the keys on his pocket.

"Hey, Brian." the other boy was came out of the elevator as they approached it. He watched as Gold hurried Emma inside.

"Is everything alright?"

"My mom is not feeling well, so we are taking her to the doctor." Henry said as he got in. "I'll see you later."

"Hope you feel better, Mrs. Swan!" the boy said before the doors shut.

Henry looked at his mother sheepishly.

"I am sorry, Mom. I did it again. I shouldn't have fought with you."

"It's alright, kid." she managed to say. "It is not your fault."

Mother and son thought the same thing, then looked at Gold.

"What? What happened?"

"We went to Tony's burgers."

Gold waited until the three of them were on the back seat of a taxi to start the lecture.

"I told you to be careful with what you eat. Remember what your doctor said about not too much salt?"

"That was not the problem, Grandpa." Henry said, sitting between the two of them. "The problem was that my dad showed up."

"Baelfire? He showed up?"

Emma closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing, trying not to think about the headache. She rested her hand on her belly an was glad to feel a strong kick as an answer.

Henry got closer to his grandpa and whispered:

"I think that's what got my mom nervous. She fought with my dad. And I fought with her after that."

"Did your father say anything..." Gold also whispered. "What did they talk about?"

"I don't know, they left the restaurant. They hugged, and my mom looked happy. Then he hugged me, and my mom kind of changed. Then they went outside and fought."

"Where did he go? Did he say?"

"I don't think so."

Gold thought that his son might had gone back to the apartment and immediately wanted to check. But as he looked up to an Emma as white as paper clutching her belly, he knew he couldn't do so.

"Still there, dearie?" he asked as the taxi stopped.

"Are we here?"

"Yes, we are."

Gold paid the taxi as Henry and Emma entered the hospital. As he followed then he thought about his son. Now he knew Emma was pregnant again. And, if he did go to his old apartment, he also knew his father was alive.

**~X~**

Henry sat on the waiting room, his leg bouncing. The doctor was talking to his mother and grandpa, and they asked him to leave. He looked at his Mom's cellphone, left with him. He had a little idea on his mind, but wondered if he would be brave enough to put it into practice.

That may be his only chance.

He held the cell phone, looking for his grandpa's number. He had told Henry that his dad had probably went back to his old apartment. The boy wondered if that was right.

The first time he hang up before someone had the chance to answer. He reasoned he was being a fool, his dad probably got himself another apartment or was staying in a hotel. But by third time he tried to call the phone was answered right after the first beep.

"Who is it?" a deep voice asked.

Henry couldn't find his voice.

"Oh, come on!" Neal sounded about to hang up.

"Wait!"

There were two seconds of silence.

"Henry?"

"Yeah.." the boy said, not ready to call him dad yet "I am sorry about what happened. About Mom fighting with you."

"It is ok, kid, she is just angry with me. It has nothing to do with you, ok?"

"Did you come back for real?" Henry asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yes, I did. I do not intend to leave you or your mom ever again."

"Why did you left before?"

Neal sighed.

"I had reasons to do so. It is a long and complicated story, and I will tell you one of this days. But not over the phone."

"Ok."

"Is your mom around?"

"Not really."

Neal noticed a higher pitch on the boy's tone.

"Is everything alright?"

"I am kind of scared." Henry finally confessed, taking that weight out of his chest. Maybe that was the first reason he called, he needed to talk to someone about that. "Mom, Grandpa and the doctor were going to talk and they asked me to leave the room. That means something bad, right?"

That sentence made Neal's head spin for so many reasons.

"Doctor? Where are you? Is your Mom alright? What do you mean your grandpa, which Grandpa?"

But Henry didn't want to give answers. He was feeling scared and guilty and lonely. He wanted to be reassured.

"Everything is going to be alright, isn't it? My Mom is going to be just fine..." he said, his eyes tearing up.

Neal thought about the subject for half a second. Emma wouldn't want to see him, but Henry needed him.

"Where are you? Give me the name of the place, and I will be there as soon as I can."


End file.
